Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T23:20:26.150Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

First Quaternary Fossil Record of Caecilians from a Mexican Archaeological Site

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Thomas A. Wake ,
Marvalee H. Wake  and
Richard G. Lesure
Thomas A. Wake
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, 90095-1510
Marvalee H. Wake
Affiliation:
Department of Integrative Biology and Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720-3140
Richard G. Lesure
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, 90095-1361
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A single vertebra from an Early Formative period archaeological site in coastal Chiapas, México, is identified as belonging to the amphibian Dermophis mexicanus (Duméril and Bibron) 1841 (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae). The vertebra was recovered from deposits dated to approximately 1200–1350 B.C. The specimen represents the first Quaternary fossil record for gymnophiones. Its presence suggests the possible role of the species as a bioturbator. Its recovery is further evidence of the utility of fine-grained archaeological recovery techniques.

Type
Short Paper
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 52 , Issue 1 , July 1999 , pp. 138 - 140
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Blake, M.(1991). An emerging formative chiefdom at Paso de la Amada, Chiapas, Mexico. Fowler, W.R Jr., The Formation of Complex Society in Southeastern Mesoamerica. (1991). CRC Press, Boca Raton., 27–46.Google Scholar
Blake, M, Clark, J.E, Voorhies, B, Michaels, G.H, Love, M.W, Pye, M.E, Demarest, A.A, Arroyo, B.(1995). A new radiocarbon chronology for the Archaic and Formative Periods along the Pacific Coast of Southeastern Mesoamerica. Ancient Mesoamerica. 6, (1995). 161–184.Google Scholar
Bocek, B.(1986). Rodent ecology and burrowing behavior: Predicted effects on archaeological site formation. American Antiquity. 51, (1986). 589–603.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, J.E.(1991). The beginnings of Mesoamerica: Apologia for the Soconusco formative. Fowler, W.R Jr., The Formation of Complex Society in Southeastern Mesoamerica. (1991). CRC Press, Boca Raton., 13–26.Google Scholar
Clark, J.E, Blake, M.(1994). The power of prestige: Competitive generosity and the emergence of rank societies in lowland mesoamerica. Brumfiel, E.M, Fox, J.W. Factional Competition and Political Development in the New World. (1994). Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge., 17–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coe, M.D, Flannery, K.V.(1967). Early Cultures and Human Ecology in South Coastal Guatemala. (1967). Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington.Google Scholar
Ducey, P.K, Formanowicz, D.R, Boyet, L, Mailloux, J, Nussbaum, R.A.(1993). Experimental examination of burrowing behavior in caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona)—Effects of soil compaction on burrowing ability in four species. Herpetologica. 49, (1993). 450–457.Google Scholar
Erlandson, J.M.(1984). A case of faunalturbation: Delineating the effects of the burrowing Pocket Gopher on the distribution of archaeological materials. American Antiquity. 49, (1984). 785–790.Google Scholar
Estes, R, Wake, M.H. (1972). The first fossil record of caecilian amphibians. Nature. 239, 228–231.Google Scholar
Evans, S.E, Milner, A.R, Werner, C. (1996). Sirenid salamanders and a gymnophionan amphibian from the Cretaceous of the Sudan. Palaeontology. 39, 77–95.Google Scholar
Hecht, M, LaDuke, T.C. (1997). Limbless tetrapods. Kay, R.F, Madden, R.H, Cifelli, R.L, Flynn, J.J.Vertebrae Paleontology in the Neotropics: The Miocene Fauna of La Venta Colombia. Random House (Smithsonian Inst. Press), New York., 95–99.Google Scholar
Jenkins, F.A, Walsh, D.M. (1993). An Early Jurassic Caecilian with limbs. Nature. 365, 246–249.Google Scholar
Lesure, R.G. (1997). Early Formative platforms at Paso De La Amada, Chiapas, Mexico. Latin American Antiquity. 8, 217–235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rage, J.C. (1991). Gymnophionan Amphibia from the Early Paleocene (Santa Lucia Formation) of Tiupampa (Bolivia): The oldest known Gymnophiona. Revista Tecnica de YPFB. 12, 3–4.Google Scholar
Stein, J.K. (1983). Earthworm activity: A source of potential disturbance of archaeological sediments. American Antiquity. 48, 277–289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Summers, A.P, O'Reilly, J.C. (1997). A comparative study of locomotion in the caecilians Dermophis mexicanus and Typhlonectes natans (Amphibia: Gymnophiona). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 121, 65–76.Google Scholar
Wake, M.H. (1980). Morphometrics of the skeleton of Dermophis mexicanus (Amphibia: Gymnophiona). Part I. The vertebrae, with comparisons to other species. Journal of Morphology. 165, 117–130.Google Scholar
Wake, M.H. (1980). Reproduction, growth, and population structure of the Central American caecilian Dermophis mexicanus . Herpetologica. 35, 244–256.Google Scholar
Wake, M.H. (1983). Gymnopis multiplicata, Dermophis mexicanus, and Dermophis parviceps (soldas, suelda con suelda, dos cabezas, caecilians). Jantzen, D.H. Costa Rican Natural History. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago., 400–401.Google Scholar
Wake, M. H. (1993). The skull as a locomotor organ. InThe Skull. (Hanken, J., Hall, B. K. Eds.), Vol. 3, pp. 197–240. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Werner, C. (1994). Der erste Nachweis von Gymnophionen (Amphibia) in der Kreide (Wadi Milk Formation, Sudan). Neues Jahrbuch Geologie und Paläontologie. 1994, 633–640.Google Scholar