RAPID: Paleontological Reconnaissance of Threatened, Submerged Primate Fossils in a Flooded Cave

对科学家和决策者来说，栖息地丧失和群落灭绝的两个主要原因——人类活动和气候变化——的影响可能很难区分。可能产生重大社会和经济后果的补救措施必须以可靠的科学和充分的数据为基础。化石记录是为数不多的几种方法之一，可以重建受到严重影响或现已灭绝的栖息地和群落，进行前后对比研究，从而更好地理解生态系统规模上的历史过程。这种化石信息的一个丰富的新来源，因为它是一个几乎完整的生态群落和时间片段而罕见，已经在马达加斯加的一个大洪水洞穴中被发现。这个化石“墓地”包含了大量的化石材料，来自马达加斯加独特的灵长类动物分类群狐猴的灭绝形式，以及与它们共存的其他动物的遗骸，并且在世界许多地方存在的地质背景下，可以期待具有相当价值的史前信息。该项目的最终目标是验证这样一个假设，即水下洞穴化石保存了一个自然群落的更全面的分类横截面，代表着更完整、更可解释的遗骸，而不是典型的古生物遗址，反映了最近人类居住的千年时间框架。最紧迫的目标是首次试验记录这些科学资源范围所需的方法。该遗址需要立即关注，因为它对当地决策者和国际社会来说都是未知的，而且它没有受到人为干扰或化石丢失的保护。环境对气候和地质因素很敏感，这些因素可以迅速伤害脆弱的标本或完全摧毁它们。这种需求是迫切的，因为全球优先事项认识到，了解生态退化的原因是找到解决人道主义和野生动物后果的先决条件，特别是在马达加斯加等脆弱的岛屿生态系统中。用于记录这一资源的生物多样性、丰富度和完整性的方法包括在洞穴更容易进入和更深的部分详细绘制化石的空间分布图，使用网格系统和高分辨率数字水下摄像和特写摄影，这将使化石分类识别和优先提取成为可能。研究小组由6名经验丰富的化石收集潜水员组成，其中包括两名摄像师和两名专门研究灵长类动物进化的科学家。

The effects of two major causes of habitat loss and community extinction - human agency and climate change - can be difficult to distinguish for both scientists and policy makers. Remedies, which can have major social and economic consequences, must be based on sound science and ample data. The fossil record represents one of the few ways heavily impacted or now-extinct habitats and communities can be reconstructed to perform the before-and-after studies leading to a better understanding of historical processes on an ecosystem scale. A rich new source of this fossilized information, rare because it comes as a virtually intact ecological community and time slice, has been discovered in a large flooded cave in Madagascar. This fossil 'graveyard" contains abundant fossilized material from extinct forms of the unique Malagasy primate taxa referred to as lemurs, as well as remains of other animals that co-existed with them, and in a geological context that exists in many parts of the world where comparably valuable prehistoric information can be expected. The ultimate goal of the project initiated through this immediate research will test the hypothesis that fossiliferous submerged caves preserve a more comprehensive taxonomic cross-section of a natural community, represented by more complete, more interpretable remains than is typical of paleontological sites reflecting the millennial timeframe of recent human occupation. The most pressing goal is to pilot the methods needed to document the extent of these scientific resources for the first time. The site is in need of immediate attention because it is unknown to both local policy makers and the international community, and it is not protected from human disturbance or loss of the fossils. The environment is sensitive to climatic and geological factors which can rapidly harm fragile specimens or destroy them entirely. The need is exigent because global priorities recognize that understanding the causes of ecological degradation is a precondition to finding solutions to the humanitarian and wildlife consequences, especially in fragile island ecosystems such as found on Madagascar.The methods used to document the biodiversity, abundance and completeness of this resource involve detailed mapping of the spatial distribution of fossils within the more outwardly accessible and deeper parts of the cave, using a grid system and high-resolution digital underwater videography and close-up photography, which will make it possible to taxonomically identify fossils and prioritize their extraction. The research team consists of six experienced, fossil-collecting divers, including two videographers and two scientists specializing in primate evolution.