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.

scholarly journals Understanding the Urgent Need for Subtitling for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in the Spanish-Speaking Greater Antilles

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrián Fuentes-Luque ◽  
Pabsi Livmar González-Irizarry
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Dominican Republic ◽  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Greater Antilles ◽  
Social Barriers ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Current State ◽  
The World ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Caribbean

Even though Audiovisual Translation (AVT) is growing and flourishing throughout the world, it is practically unheard-of in the Caribbean, where accessibility faces an even bleaker existence. The circumstances of the deaf and hard of hearing (also referred to as D/deaf) are no less alarming: social barriers and exclusion are widespread. This paper emphasizes the need to make subtitles accessible in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, specifically on the islands of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, and underscores the challenges faced by the D/deaf communities on each island. Our research focuses on issues like AVT laws and regulations, the habits of viewers of audiovisual (AV) products, and literacy and limitations on each island. This paper also examines the different types of D/deaf audiovisual consumers in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean and the difficulties each community faces when accessing media and entertainment. Our research reveals the current state of AVT accessibility in this region and provides a foundation for influencing legislators to begin enforcing AVT regulations and drafting SDH guidelines.

scholarly journals Local Annual Survival and Seasonal Residency Rates of Semipalmated Sandpipers (Calidris Pusilla) in Puerto Rico

The Auk ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 124 (4) ◽  
pp. 1397-1406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan M. Rice ◽  
Jaime A. Collazo ◽  
Mathew W. Alldredge ◽  
Brian A. Harrington ◽  
Allen R. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Differential Mortality ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
Greater Antilles ◽  
Annual Survival ◽  
Salt Flats ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Calidris Pusilla ◽  
Semipalmated Sandpipers

Abstract We report seasonal residency and local annual survival rates of migratory Semipalmated Sandpipers (Calidris pusilla) at the Cabo Rojo salt flats, Puerto Rico. Residency rate (daily probability of remaining on the flats) was 0.991 ± 0.001 (x̄ ± SE), yielding a mean length of stay of 110 days. This finding supports the inclusion of the Caribbean as part of the species' winter range. Average estimated percentage of fat was low but increased throughout the season, which suggests that birds replenish some spent fat reserves and strive for energetic maintenance. Local annual survival rate was 0.62 ± 0.04, within the range of values reported for breeding populations at Manitoba and Alaska (0.53–0.76). The similarity was not unexpected because estimates were obtained annually but at opposite sites of their annual migratory movements. Birds captured at the salt flats appeared to be a mix of birds from various parts of the breeding range, judging from morphology (culmen's coefficient of variation = 9.1, n = 106). This suggested that origin (breeding area) of birds and their proportion in the data should be ascertained and accounted for in analyses to glean the full conservation implications of winter-based annual survival estimates. Those data are needed to unravel the possibility that individuals of distinct populations are affected by differential mortality factors across different migratory routes. Mean length of stay strongly suggested that habitat quality at the salt flats was high. Rainfall and tidal flow combine to increase food availability during fall. The salt flats dry up gradually toward late January, at the onset of the dry season. Semipalmated Sandpipers may move west to other Greater Antilles or south to sites such as coastal Surinam until the onset of spring migration. They are not an oversummering species at the salt flats. Conservation efforts in the Caribbean region require understanding the dynamics of this species throughout winter to protect essential habitat. Tasas de Supervivencia Anual Local y de Residencia Estacional de Calidris pusilla en Puerto Rico

Source identification of Middle Age extreme event deposits in the Lesser Antilles using forward numerical modeling of tsunami

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Cordrie ◽  
Audrey Gailler ◽  
Nathalie Feuillet
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Extreme Event ◽  
Virgin Islands ◽  
Lesser Antilles ◽  
Greater Antilles ◽  
Seismic Cycle ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Run Up ◽  
Bathymetric Grids ◽  
Northern Segment

<p><span>The arc of the Lesser Antilles is one of the most quiet subduction zone in the world. In this region, the convergence of the Atlantic and the Caribbean plates is low (</span><span>few </span><span>mm/year) and most of the seismicity is a</span><span>n</span><span> intraplate and crustal seismicity. Among the Mw>7 earthquakes recorded in the historical catalog (1690 near Barbuda, 1843 near Guadeloupe, 1867 near the Virgin Islands, 1839 offshore Martinica, 1969 offshore Dominica, 1974 near Antigua), only the 1839 and 1843 events are suspected to be interplate earthquakes. The 1867 Virgin Island earthquake generated an important tsunami with waves of 10m that devastated the closest islands. A tsunami followed the 1843 earthquake but without much damage. These two events are the only known damaging tsunami in this region, but another older one might be added to the list. Indeed, an increasing number of tsunami deposits have been identified in the recent years on several islands of the arc, all of them being around 500 years old (~1450 AD). These deposits are all located in the northern segment of the arc, between Antigua and Puerto-Rico, in Anegada, St-Thomas (Virgin Islands), Anguilla </span><span>and</span><span> Scrub islands. There is </span><span>unfortunately</span><span> no record and no testimonies of an extreme event at that time.</span></p><p><span>The northern segment of the arc is particularly complex because located at the transition </span><span>between</span><span> the Greater Antilles </span><span>and the Lesser Antilles</span><span>. </span><span>It</span><span> is crossed by the Anegada Passage, a series of faults and basins cutting through the arc, which defines the limit between the Puerto-Rico micro-plate and the Caribbean plate. This passage and the numerous intra-arc fault systems present between the islands are active and likely compensate for the plates motion. The very low slip deficit detected with GPS measurements at the subduction contacts of Puerto-Rico and the Lesser Antilles indicates that the interface from Guadeloupe to Puerto-Rico can be considered as totally uncoupled or holding the characteristics of a very long seismic cycle. A tsunami generated by an extreme event 500 years ago in this region could be related to </span><span>intra-arc, outer-rise,</span><span> intraplate </span><span>or</span><span> interface fault rupture. The identification of the source </span><span>would</span><span> enable a better understanding of the seismic cycle and the dynamic of this part of the arc.</span></p><p><span>This study lists </span><span>and set models of</span><span> all the potential faults that could trigger an earthquake in the area encompassing the three islands : Anguilla, Anegada and StThomas. </span><span>We have created high-resolution bathymetric grids and</span><span> performed tsunami simulations </span><span>for each fault model</span><span>. </span><span>W</span><span>e uses run-up models to compare the simulated wave heights </span><span>and run-up distance</span><span> to all the deposits heights </span><span>and positions</span><span>. The magnitudes of our fault models range between 7 and </span><span>9,</span><span> but very few of them generate a strong enough tsunami t</span><span>o</span> <span>match</span><span> the observ</span><span>ed deposits</span><span>.</span></p>

scholarly journals Archaeology of marronage in the Caribbean Antilles

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Theresa Ann Singleton
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Greater Antilles ◽  
Small Islands ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Preliminary Research ◽  
Local Term

The archaeological study of maroons in the Caribbean Antilles presents both opportunities and challenges. On small islands, runaways had few places where they could seek refuge from slavery and elude capture for long periods of time. Consequently, such sites were occupied briefly and have been difficult to locate and identify. The Greater Antilles (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico) had both short-term refuge sites and long-term settlements comparable to quilombos. Archaeologists have been most successful in their investigations maroons in Cuba and Jamaica. In Hispaniola, where I am working at the present, only a few cave sites and one presumed maniel (the local term for a long-term maroon settlements) have been studied. In this paper, I provide an overview of the archaeological study of maroons on the Caribbean Islands and my preliminary research to locate El Maniel de Ocoa, a major settlement of slave runaways for over a hundred years during 1500s-1660s.  

Paleomagnetic and structural study of the NEastern Caribbean plate as mean to give paleogeographic constrains for fauna dispersal.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leny Montheil ◽  
Douwe Van Hinsbergen ◽  
Philippe Münch ◽  
Pierre Camps ◽  
Mélody Philippon
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Plate Motion ◽  
Lesser Antilles ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
Greater Antilles ◽  
Caribbean Plate ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
The Caribbean

<p>Since the Eocene, the northeastern corner of the Caribbean plate is shaped by the indentation of the buoyant Bahamas platform with the Greater Caribbean Arc, the suture of a portion of the Antillean subduction zone along Cuba and Hispaniola and the subsequent relocation of the plate boundary along the strike slip Cayman Trough. Puzzlingly enough, these major re-arrangements followed a plate motion reorganization (Boschmann et al., 2014). During this kinematic reorganization, the Lesser Antilles trench initiated (or subduction intensified) along the eastern boundary of the Caribbean plate and progressively bent, resulting in an increase of subduction obliquity from south to north (Philippon et al., 2020a). This curvature has been, and still may be, associated with deformation within the Caribbean plate. Interestingly, in the 10-15 Ma following the plate reorganization, a hypothetical, now submerged “landbridge” allowed the dispersion of terrestrial fauna from South America to the Greater Antilles: the GAARlandia landbridge (land of Greater Antilles and Aves Ridge). Although it has been recently shown that Puerto Rico and the Northern Lesser Antilles where connected once forming a land mass called GrANoLA around 33-35 Ma (Philippon et al., 2020b), these rapids and drastics geodynamical changes may have impacted the regional paleogeography, which remains to be constrained. The intraplate deformation in the north-est Caribbean region associated with the plate reorganization, the Bahamas indentation, and the plate boundary curvature likely hold the key to (part of) the evolution of this landbridge.<br>At present day, the N-Eastern border of the Caribbean plate shows parallel to the trench faults dissecting the plate in a sliver-like manner. This “sliver” is cross cutted by perpendicular to the trench faults in four crustal blocks: Gonave, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and the Northern Lesser Antilles. Present-day and past kinematics of these blocks, and even their existence, are still debated.</p><p>In this study, in the course of the French GAARAnti project, we focus on paleomagnetically determined vertical axis rotations that affected Puerto Rico and the Northern Lesser Antilles blocks since the Eocene, and use these to inform kinematic reconstructions constrained by regional structural analysis and Ar<sup>40</sup>-Ar<sup>39</sup> geochronology. These reconstructions will be used to refine the paleogeographic evolution of the NEastern edge of the Caribbean plate since the Eocene in order test the GAARlandia hypothesis.</p><p>A new set of paleomagnetic data (180 Oligo-Miocene specimens of sediments sampled in 18 sites) indicates that the Puerto Rico block underwent an early to mid-Miocene 10° counterclockwise (CCW) rotation. This result clearly differs from those of Reid et al., 1991 who concluded a Late Miocene 25° CCW rotation and that is currently used by the community to interpret the tectonic history of the northeastern Caribbean plate. The use of a larger dataset, that geographically covers the entire island, and of a more recent reference frame explain the difference observed between the two results. This new result will lead to a re-interpretation of the tectonic evolution of the region that will be integrated in a regional kinematic reconstruction.</p>

scholarly journals Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of Amazon Parrots in the Greater Antilles

Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 608
Author(s):  
Sofiia Kolchanova ◽  
Alexey Komissarov ◽  
Sergei Kliver ◽  
Anyi Mazo-Vargas ◽  
Yashira Afanador ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Central America ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Population Diversity ◽  
Ancestral Population ◽  
Greater Antilles ◽  
Island Species ◽  
Parrot Species ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Phylogeny And Evolution

Amazon parrots (Amazona spp.) colonized the islands of the Greater Antilles from the Central American mainland, but there has not been a consensus as to how and when this happened. Today, most of the five remaining island species are listed as endangered, threatened, or vulnerable as a consequence of human activity. We sequenced and annotated full mitochondrial genomes of all the extant Amazon parrot species from the Greater Antillean (A. leucocephala (Cuba), A. agilis, A. collaria (both from Jamaica), A. ventralis (Hispaniola), and A. vittata (Puerto Rico)), A. albifrons from mainland Central America, and A. rhodocorytha from the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. The assembled and annotated mitogenome maps provide information on sequence organization, variation, population diversity, and evolutionary history for the Caribbean species including the critically endangered A. vittata. Despite the larger number of available samples from the Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery Program, the sequence diversity of the A. vittata population in Puerto Rico was the lowest among all parrot species analyzed. Our data support the stepping-stone dispersal and speciation hypothesis that has started approximately 3.47 MYA when the ancestral population arrived from mainland Central America and led to diversification across the Greater Antilles, ultimately reaching the island of Puerto Rico 0.67 MYA. The results are presented and discussed in light of the geological history of the Caribbean and in the context of recent parrot evolution, island biogeography, and conservation. This analysis contributes to understating evolutionary history and empowers subsequent assessments of sequence variation and helps design future conservation efforts in the Caribbean.

Geology and hydrogeology of the Caribbean islands aquifer system of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Renken ◽  
W. C. Ward ◽  
I.P. Gill ◽  
Fernando Gómez-Gómez ◽  
Jesús Rodríguez-Martínez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Virgin Islands ◽  
Aquifer System ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
The U.S

Leishmania spp. and leishmaniasis on the Caribbean islands

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaoqun Yao
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Dominican Republic ◽  
Trinidad And Tobago ◽  
Parasite Species ◽  
Sand Fly ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
Leishmania Spp ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Human Infections ◽  
Sand Fly Vectors

Abstract The kinetoplastid protozoan Leishmania spp. cause leishmaniasis, which clinically exhibit mainly as a cutaneous, mucocutanous or visceral form depending upon the parasite species in humans. The disease is widespread geographically, leading to 20 000 annual deaths. Here, leishmaniases in both humans and animals, reservoirs and sand fly vectors on the Caribbean islands are reviewed. Autochthonous human infections by Leishmania spp. were found in the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe and Martinique as well as Trinidad and Tobago; canine infections were found in St. Kitts and Grenada; and equine infections were found in Puerto Rico. Imported human cases have been reported in Cuba. The parasites included Leishmania amazonensis, Le. martiniquensis and Le. waltoni. Possible sand fly vectors included Lutzomyia christophei, Lu. atroclavatus, Lu. cayennensis and Lu. flaviscutellata as well as Phlebotomus guadeloupensis. Reservoirs included rats, rice rats and mouse opossum. An updated study is warranted for the control and elimination of leishmaniasis in the region because some of the data are four decades old.

Systematics and conservation of an endemic radiation of Accipiter hawks in the Caribbean islands

The Auk ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Therese A Catanach ◽  
Matthew R Halley ◽  
Julie M Allen ◽  
Jeff A Johnson ◽  
Russell Thorstrom ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Reciprocal Monophyly ◽  
Island Populations ◽  
Mitochondrial Haplotypes ◽  
Accipiter Striatus ◽  
The Caribbean

Abstract More than one-third of the bird species found in the Caribbean are endemic to a set of neighboring islands or a single island. However, we have little knowledge of the evolutionary history of the Caribbean avifauna, and the lack of phylogenetic studies limits our understanding of the extent of endemism in the region. The Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus) occurs widely across the Americas and includes 3 endemic Caribbean taxa: venator on Puerto Rico, striatus on Hispaniola, and fringilloides on Cuba. These island populations have undergone extreme declines presumably due to ecosystem changes caused by anthropogenic factors, as well as due to severe hurricanes. Sharp-shinned Hawks, in general, and Caribbean Sharp-shinned Hawks, in particular, have not been placed in a modern phylogenetic context. However, the island taxa have historically been presumed to have some ongoing gene flow with mainland populations. Here we sequenced ultraconserved elements (UCEs) and their flanking regions from 38 samples, focusing on Caribbean taxa. Using a combination of UCEs, mitochondrial genome sequences, and single-nucleotide polymorphisms, we investigated the phylogenetic relationships among Caribbean lineages and their relationships to mainland taxa. We found that Caribbean Sharp-shinned Hawks are reciprocally monophyletic in all datasets with regard to mainland populations and among island taxa (with no shared mtDNA haplotypes) and that divergence in the NADH dehydrogenase 2 gene (ND2) between these mainland and island groups averaged 1.83%. Furthermore, sparse non-negative matrix factorization (sNMF) analysis indicated that Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and mainland samples each form separate populations with limited admixture. We argue that our findings are consistent with the recognition of the 3 resident Caribbean populations as species-level taxa because nuclear and mitochondrial genetic data indicate reciprocal monophyly and have species-level divergences, there is no sharing of mitochondrial haplotypes among or between island taxa and those on the mainland; and they are diagnosable by plumage.

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