New Findings at Andrahomana Cave, Southeastern Madagascar
New Findings at Andrahomana Cave, Southeastern Madagascar
复制标题
马达加斯加东南部安德拉霍马纳洞穴的新发现
DOI：
--
复制
发表时间：
2008
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
L. L. Raharivony
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
D. Burney;N. Vasey;L. Godfrey;W. Jungers;Ramilisonina;M. F. Ramarolahy;L. L. Raharivony
马达加斯加东南海岸的一个遥远的风成岩洞穴和天坑在马达加斯加的古生物学历史上发挥了重要作用。安德拉霍马纳洞穴出土了大量已灭绝巨型动物的化石记录。2000年和2003年的考察产生了丰富的新材料，并首次提供了有关该遗址的成因、地层学和地学的系统信息。人们对一种已灭绝的大型狐猴（Hadropithecus stenognathus）的骨骼知之甚少，其中包括许多以前不为人知的骨骼元素。放射性碳测年表明，该遗址在全新世中晚期对这种消失的动物群进行了采样，但含骨层在地层上是混合的，这可能是由于极端海洋事件对沉积物的重新加工的影响。恢复的多样性生物群包含东部雨林和西南部干旱丛林的元素，反映了洞穴在干湿生物群落过渡区的位置。两种不寻常的小型哺乳动物的骨头为该遗址先前长长的动物群名单增添了新的内容：1)petteri Macrotarsomys的第一个化石证据，这是一种大型的地方性nesomyid啮齿动物，以前只从一个现代标本中知道；2)一种新发现的已灭绝的鼩鼱（Microgale macpheei）的模式标本和附加材料。史前和殖民时代人类的证据包括人工制品、壁炉沉积物、人类驯化和其他引进物种的遗骸。虽然这个独特的地方以前受到极端隔离的保护，但它很容易受到开发利用。一个新兴的旅游业可能会把更多的人带到洞穴，而且目前还没有对这个地方提供任何形式的保护。
A remote eolianite cave and sinkhole complex on the southeast coast of Madagascar has played a major role in the history of paleontology in Madagascar. Andrahomana Cave has yielded a rich fossil record of the extinct megafauna. Expeditions in 2000 and 2003 produced a wealth of new material and provided the first systematic information concerning the genesis, stratigraphy, and taphonomy of the site. Recovered bones of one of the most poorly understood extinct large lemurs, Hadropithecus stenognathus, include many skeletal elements previously unknown. Radiocarbon dates show that the site has sampled this disappeared fauna in the mid- to-late Holocene, but that bone-bearing layers are stratigraphically mixed, probably owing to the effects of reworking of the sediments by extreme marine events. The diverse biota recovered contains elements of both eastern rain forest and southwestern arid bushland, reflecting the cave's position in the zone of transition between wet and dry biomes. Bones of two unusual small mammals add to the previously long faunal list for the site: 1) the first fossil evidence for Macrotarsomys petteri, a large-bodied endemic nesomyid rodent previously known only from a single modern specimen; and 2) the type specimen and additional material of a newly described extinct shrew-tenrec (Microgale macpheei). Evidence for prehistoric and colonial-era humans includes artifacts, hearth deposits, and remains of human domesticates and other introduced species. Although previously protected by its extreme isolation, the unique site is vulnerable to exploitation. An incipient tourist industry is likely to bring more people to the cave, and there is currently no form of protection afforded to the site.