scholarly journals Genome-wide ancestry of 17th-century enslaved Africans from the Caribbean

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (12) ◽  
pp. 3669-3673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannes Schroeder ◽  
María C. Ávila-Arcos ◽  
Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas ◽  
G. David Poznik ◽  
Marcela Sandoval-Velasco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Caribbean Island ◽  
Dna Analyses ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Saint Martin ◽  
Genetic Origins ◽  
Northern Cameroon ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Source Populations

Between 1500 and 1850, more than 12 million enslaved Africans were transported to the New World. The vast majority were shipped from West and West-Central Africa, but their precise origins are largely unknown. We used genome-wide ancient DNA analyses to investigate the genetic origins of three enslaved Africans whose remains were recovered on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin. We trace their origins to distinct subcontinental source populations within Africa, including Bantu-speaking groups from northern Cameroon and non-Bantu speakers living in present-day Nigeria and Ghana. To our knowledge, these findings provide the first direct evidence for the ethnic origins of enslaved Africans, at a time for which historical records are scarce, and demonstrate that genomic data provide another type of record that can shed new light on long-standing historical questions.

scholarly journals Chikungunya outbreak in the Caribbean region, December 2013 to March 2014, and the significance for Europe

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (13) ◽  
Author(s):  
W Van Bortel ◽  
F Dorleans ◽  
J Rosine ◽  
A Blateau ◽  
D Rousset ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
French Guiana ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
Virus Spread ◽  
Caribbean Island ◽  
Travel History ◽  
Widespread Occurrence ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
Saint Martin ◽  
The Caribbean

On 6 December 2013, two laboratory-confirmed cases of chikungunya without a travel history were reported on the French part of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, indicating the start of the first documented outbreak of chikungunya in the Americas. Since this report, the virus spread to several Caribbean islands and French Guiana, and between 6 December 2013 and 27 March 2014 more than 17,000 suspected and confirmed cases have been reported. Further spread and establishment of the disease in the Americas is likely, given the high number of people travelling between the affected and non-affected areas and the widespread occurrence of efficient vectors. Also, the likelihood of the introduction of the virus into Europe from the Americas and subsequent transmission should be considered especially in the context of the next mosquito season in Europe. Clinicians should be aware that, besides dengue, chikungunya should be carefully considered among travellers currently returning from the Caribbean region.

Solar Radiation Over the Caribbean Island of Puerto Rico

Solar Energy ◽  
2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramiro L. Rivera ◽  
Karim Altaii
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Global Radiation ◽  
Global Solar Radiation ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Caribbean Island ◽  
Monthly Average ◽  
Energy Conversion System ◽  
The Caribbean

Solar radiation was measured and recorded on a 5-minute, hourly and daily basis at a number of sites on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico (located from 18° to 18° 30’N latitude and from 65° 30’ to 67° 15’W longitude) over a 24 calendar month time frame. The global solar radiation was measured at four sites (namely: Aguadilla, Ponce, Gurabo, and San Juan). The global solar radiation data was measured by an Eppley Precision Spectral Pyranometer (model PSP) mounted on a horizontal surface. This pyranometer is sensitive to solar radiation in the range of 0.285 ≤ λ ≤ 2.8 μm wavelengths. Statistical analysis such as the daily average, monthly average hourly, monthly average daily, and annual average daily global radiation are presented in this paper. Despite its small size, a 13 percent variation in the global solar radiation has been observed within the island. Reasonable solar radiation values, for solar energy conversion system installation, seem to exist at and possibly around Aguadilla.

Seed Plant Genera Endemic to the Caribbean Island Biodiversity Hotspot: A Review and a Molecular Phylogenetic Perspective

2007 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 183-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Francisco-Ortega ◽  
Eugenio Santiago-Valentín ◽  
Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez ◽  
Carl Lewis ◽  
John Pipoly ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Hotspot ◽  
Seed Plant ◽  
Caribbean Island ◽  
Molecular Phylogenetic ◽  
Island Biodiversity ◽  
Phylogenetic Perspective ◽  
The Caribbean

Two new species of flattie spiders (Araneae: Selenopidae) and descriptions of undescribed males from the Caribbean

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4446 (1) ◽  
pp. 125
Author(s):  
SARAH C. CREWS
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Dominican Republic ◽  
Endemic Species ◽  
New Records ◽  
Caribbean Island ◽  
Two New Species ◽  
The Caribbean

Two new species of Selenops, S. anacaona sp. nov. (♀) and S. caonabo sp. nov. (♀), are described from the Dominican Republic on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. These two new species increase the number of endemic Selenops on Hispaniola to 13, surpassing Cuba, which currently has 11 endemic species. Additionally, the male of S. pensilis Muma, 1953 from Hispaniola is described, as well as the male of S. petrunkevitchi Alayón, 2003 from Jamaica. Full distribution records are given for the new species and the newly described males, and new records are provided for the following species: S. aequalis Franganillo, 1935, S. bocacandensis Crews, 2011, S. candidus Muma, 1953, S. micropalpus Muma, 1953, S. morro Crews, 2011, S. simius Muma, 1953, S. souliga Crews, 2011, and S. submaculosus Bryant, 1940. 

scholarly journals The Imbert Formation of northern Hispaniola: a tectono-sedimentary record of arc-continent collision and ophiolite emplacement in the northern Caribbean subduction-accretionary prism

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1827-1876 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Escuder-Viruete ◽  
A. Suárez-Rodríguez ◽  
J. Gabites ◽  
A. Pérez-Estaún
Keyword(s):  
Subduction Zone ◽  
Continental Margin ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Accretionary Prism ◽  
Island Arc ◽  
Caribbean Island ◽  
Stratigraphic Sequence ◽  
Oblique Collision ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Ophiolitic Complex

Abstract. In northern Hispaniola, the Imbert Formation (Fm) has been interpreted as an orogenic "mélange" originally deposited as trench-fill sediments, an accretionary (subduction) complex formed above a SW-dipping subduction zone, or the sedimentary result of the early oblique collision of the Caribbean plate with the Bahama Platform in the middle Eocene. However, new stratigraphical, structural, geochemical and geochronological data from northern Hispaniola indicate that the Imbert Fm constitutes a coarsening-upward stratigraphic sequence that records the transition of the sedimentation from a pre-collisional forearc to a syn-collisional piggy-back basin. This piggy-back basin was transported on top of the Puerto Plata ophiolitic complex slab and structurally underlying accreted units of the Rio San Juan complex, as it was emplaced onto the North America continental margin units. The Imbert Fm unconformably overlies different structural levels of the Caribbean subduction-accretionary prism, including a supra-subduction zone ophiolite, and consists of three laterally discontinuous units that record the exhumation of the underlying basement. The distal turbiditic lower unit includes the latest volcanic activity of the Caribbean island arc; the more proximal turbiditic intermediate unit is moderately affected by syn-sedimentary faulting; and the upper unit is a (caotic) olistostromic unit, composed of serpentinite-rich polymictic breccias, conglomerates and sandstones, strongly deformed by syn-sedimentary faulting, slumping and sliding processes. The Imbert Fm is followed by subsidence and turbiditic deposition of the overlying El Mamey Group. The 40Ar / 39Ar plagioclase plateau ages obtained in gabbroic rocks from the Puerto Plata ophiolitic complex indicate its exhumation at ∼ 45–40 Ma (lower-to-middle Eocene), contemporaneously to the sedimentation of the overlying Imbert Fm. These cooling ages imply the uplift to the surface and submarine erosion of the complex to be the source of the ophiolitic fragments in the Imbert Fm, during of shortly after the emplacement of the intra-oceanic Caribbean island-arc onto the continental margin.

Cyathea ruttenbergii, a new tree fern (Cyatheaceae, Polypodiopsida) from Puerto Rico

Phytotaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 336 (3) ◽  
pp. 279
Author(s):  
ADRIAN TEJEDOR ◽  
FABIOLA ARECES-BERAZAIN
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
New Species ◽  
Caribbean Island ◽  
Tree Fern ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
A New Species

A new species, Cyathea ruttenbergii, is described from the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. The new species differs from congeners by its large, lanceolate pinnules with wide sinuses and long attenuate apices, ovate lamina with 6–7 pinna pairs, bicolorous petiole scales, strongly armed petioles, and lack of indusium. The affinities and ecology of the species are discussed.

Friend or Foe? The US Invades Grenada

2015 ◽  
pp. 93-144
Author(s):  
Sally-Ann Treharne
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
International Community ◽  
Special Relationship ◽  
Caribbean Island ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Eastern Caribbean ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
British Commonwealth ◽  
The Uk

The US-led invasion of the Caribbean island of Grenada at the alleged behest of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) on 25 October 1983 had a profound negative impact upon the development of the Special Relationship under Reagan and Thatcher. The dubious legality of the intervention was widely criticised by the international community, most notably the UK. And yet, it was the Thatcher government that bore the scars of considerable domestic criticism regarding the unlawful US involvement in the internal affairs of a member of the British Commonwealth. The US invasion of Grenada, or operation ‘Urgent Fury’ as it is otherwise known, raised important questions regarding the limits of British credibility and importance within the Anglo-American alliance.

scholarly journals The earliest record of Caribbean frogs: a fossil coquí from Puerto Rico

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 20190947 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. Blackburn ◽  
Rachel M. Keeffe ◽  
María C. Vallejo-Pareja ◽  
Jorge Vélez-Juarbe
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Distal Humerus ◽  
Greater Antilles ◽  
Terrestrial Vertebrates ◽  
Early Arrival ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Molecular Phylogenies ◽  
Additional Support

The nearly 200 species of direct-developing frogs in the genus Eleutherodactylus (the Caribbean landfrogs, which include the coquís) comprise an important lineage for understanding the evolution and historical biogeography of the Caribbean. Time-calibrated molecular phylogenies provide indirect evidence for the processes that shaped the modern anuran fauna, but there is little direct evidence from the fossil record of Caribbean frogs about their distributions in the past. We report a distal humerus of a frog from the Oligocene (approx. 29 Ma) of Puerto Rico that represents the earliest known fossil frog from any Caribbean island. Based on its prominent rounded distal humeral head, distally projecting entepicondyle, and reduced ectepicondyle, we refer it to the genus Eleutherodactylus . This fossil provides additional support for an early arrival of some groups of terrestrial vertebrates to the Greater Antilles and corroborates previous estimates based on molecular phylogenies suggesting that this diverse Caribbean lineage was present in the islands by the mid-Cenozoic.

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