Cueva de Post Office (Superior) (Holocene of Ecuador)

Where: Galapagos, Ecuador (1.2° S, 90.4° W)

• coordinate estimated from map

When: Holocene (0.0 - 0.0 Ma)

Environment/lithology: sinkhole; brown, yellow, silty, sandy gravel

• Near the entrance, the floor of each cave was littered with hundreds of bones, as well as pieces of wood. The sediments from the different test pits are broadly similar to each other. They are very inorganic, being derived from basalts, with some secondary minerals (gypsum, flourite, apatite, minor calcite).

•

•brown (5 YR 3/4 wet), poorly laminated, poorly sorted; pebbly, sandy, silty clay alternating with sandy, silty clay; contacts poorly defined (dashed lines); clasts basaltic, very angular to sub-rounded; no reaction with 10% HCI; maximum observed thickness = 36 cm

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Primary reference: D. W. Steadman. 1986. Holocene Vertebrate Fossils from Isla Floreana, Galapagos. Smithsonian contributions to zoology 413:1-112 [E. Vlachos/E. Vlachos]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 190845: authorized by Evangelos Vlachos, entered by Evangelos Vlachos on 19.12.2017

Creative Commons license: CC0 (CC0)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
Reptilia
 Squamata - Gekkonidae
Phyllodactylus baurii
Phyllodactylus baurii leaf-toed gecko
 Squamata - Tropiduridae
Tropidurus grayii
Tropidurus grayii ground lizard
 Squamata - Colubridae
Alsophis biserialis
Alsophis biserialis colubrid snake
Aves
 Aves -
Aves indet.
 Passeriformes -
Passeriformes indet.
Passeriformes indet. Linnaeus 1758 perching bird
 Passeriformes - Thraupidae
Geospiza indet., Geospiza fortis, Geospiza magnirostris, Geospiza fuliginosa
Geospiza indet. Gould 1837 Darwin's finch
Geospiza fortis Gould 1837 medium ground-finch
Geospiza magnirostris Gould 1837 large ground-finch
Geospiza fuliginosa Gould 1837 small ground-finch
 Passeriformes - Mimidae
Mimus trifasciatus
Mimus trifasciatus Gould 1837 Floreana mockinbird
 Columbiformes - Columbidae
Zenaida galapagoensis
Zenaida galapagoensis Gould 1841 Galapagos dove
Reptilia
 Testudines - Testudinidae
Geochelone elephantopus
Geochelone elephantopus Harlan 1827 Galapagos giant tortoise
Mammalia
 Rodentia - Muridae
Rattus rattus, Mus musculus
Rattus rattus Linnaeus 1758 black rat
introduced by man
Mus musculus Linnaeus 1758 house mouse
introduced by man