Ficus Pit (Pleistocene to of Bahamas)

Where: San Salvador, Bahamas (23.9° N, 74.6° W: paleocoordinates 23.9° N, 74.6° W)

• coordinate estimated from map

When: Late/Upper Pleistocene to Late/Upper Pleistocene (0.1 - 0.0 Ma)

• The depth from ground level to the sediment floor is 9.7 m (32 feet), the floor being roughly circular, with a diameter of about 7 m, the opening at the surface being smaller. The bottom of the pit is considerably overhung by what appears to be the remains of a higher floor, suggesting that an earlier sink formed that later collapsed into one beneath it

Environment/lithology: sinkhole; lime mudstone

• There was no apparent stratification except that a dark organic upper layer (-10-20 cm thick) overlay a yellowish, limey sediment of varying thickness. The considerable amount of roof-fall complicated digging and contributed to mixing of specimens of different ages when bones would fall into spaces between rocks.

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Preservation: bone collector

Reposited in the USNM

Collection methods: surface (in situ), sieve,

• The floor underneath an overhang on the north wall was the site of a recent Barn Owl (Tyto alba) roost, with prey remains from regurgitated pellets scattered about the surface and into the loose, organic surface sediment. We collected these remains and dug three trenches and two additional test pits in the sediments of the floor. Sediment was passed through one quarter inch mesh and window screen.

Primary reference: S. L. Olson, G. K. Pregill, and W. B. Hilgartner. 1990. Studies on Fossil and Extant Vertebrates from San Salvador (Watling's) Island, Bahamas. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 508:1-24 [E. Vlachos/E. Vlachos]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 190743: authorized by Evangelos Vlachos, entered by Evangelos Vlachos on 16.12.2017

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Amphibia
 Salientia - Hylidae
Osteopilus septentrionalis Dumétil and Bibron 1841 tree frog
Mammalia
 Rodentia - Muridae
Rattus sp. Fischer 1803 rat
Mus musculus Linnaeus 1758 house mouse
 Chiroptera - Vespertilionidae
Eptesicus fuscus Beauvois 1796 big brown bat
 Chiroptera - Natalidae
Natalus tumidifrons funnel-eared bat
 Chiroptera - Phyllostomidae
Erophylla sezekorni Gundlach 1861 leaf-nosed bat
Macrotus waterhousii Gray 1843 leaf-nosed bat
Reptilia
 Testudines - Emydidae
Emydidae indet. Rafinesque 1815 turtle
 Testudines - Testudinidae
Testudinidae indet. Batsch 1788 turtle
 Squamata - Polychrotidae
Anolis sagrei Dumeril and Bibron 1837 Brown anole
 Squamata - Iguanidae
Leiocephalus loxogrammus curly-tailed lizard
Cyclura rileyi rock iguana
Aves
 Charadriiformes - Laridae
"Sterna cf. fuscata" = Onychoprion fuscatus, Anous stolidus
"Sterna cf. fuscata" = Onychoprion fuscatus Linnaeus 1766 sooty tern
Anous stolidus Linnaeus 1758 brown noddy
 Charadriiformes - Scolopacidae
Arenaria interpres Linnaeus 1758 ruddy turnstone
 Passeriformes - Vireonidae
Vireo sp. Vieillot 1808 vireo
Vireo crassirostris Bryant 1859 thick-billed vireo
 Passeriformes - Parulidae
Parulidae spp., "Dendroica sp." = Setophaga, "Dendroica petechia" = Setophaga petechia, "Seiurus aurocapillus" = Seiurus aurocapilla
Parulidae spp. Wetmore et al. 1947 perching bird
"Dendroica sp." = Setophaga Swainson 1827 perching bird
"Dendroica petechia" = Setophaga petechia Linnaeus 1766 yellow warbler
"Seiurus aurocapillus" = Seiurus aurocapilla Linnaeus 1766 ovenbird
 Passeriformes - Thraupidae
Tiaris bicolor Linnaeus 1766 black-faced grassquit
Coereba flaveola Linnaeus 1758 bananaquit
 Passeriformes - Tyrannidae
Tyrannus dominicensis Gmelin 1788 gray kingbird
 Passeriformes - Mimidae
Margarops fuscatus Vieillot 1808 pearly-eyed thrasher
Mimus gundlachii Cabanis 1855 Bahama mockingbird
Mimus polyglottos Linnaeus 1758 northern mockingbird
Dumetella carolinensis Linnaeus 1766 gray catbird
 Passeriformes - Cardinalidae
Passerina caerulea Linnaeus 1758 blue grosbeak
 Columbiformes - Columbidae
Zenaida macroura Linnaeus 1758 mourning dove
Zenaida cf. aurita Temminck 1809 zenaida dove
Columbina passerina Linnaeus 1758 common ground-dove
 Cuculiformes - Cuculidae
Coccyzus cf. minor Gmelin 1788 mangrove cuckoo
 Strigiformes - Tytonidae
Tyto alba Scopoli 1769 barn owl
 Gruiformes - Rallidae
Rallus longirostris Boddaert 1783 mangrove rail
Porzana carolina Linnaeus 1758 sora
 Procellariiformes - Procellariidae
Puffinus lherminieri Lesson 1839 Audubon's shearwater
 Pelecaniformes - Ardeidae
Ixobrychus exilis Gmelin 1789 least bittern
"Ardeola virescens" = Butorides virescens Linnaeus 1758 green heron
Nycticorax nycticorax Linnaeus 1758 black-crowned night heron
 Cathartiformes - Cathartidae
Cathartes aura Linnaeus 1758 turkey vulture
 Galliformes - Phasianidae
cf. Gallus gallus Linnaeus 1758 chicken