Abstract
The San Felipe Hutia, Mesocapromys sanfelipensis, is one of the most endangered species of rodents in the world, and little is known about its ecology, evolution, and ancient distribution. At present, this hutia has been found only in its type locality, Cayo Juan Garcia, a cay in the southwest Cuban insular platform. Here we report for the first time a well preserved fossil skull referred to this species, collected in Cueva del Indio, Mayabeque province, western Cuba. This specimen shows that the modern population of M. sanfelipensis is a marginal relic of its former distribution, a consequence of climatic, eustatic, and neotectonic changes in the last 8 ka years. Also, we reevaluate the cranial characters and measurements that correspond to M. sanfelipensis and found that two of the eight specimens referred to this species and deposited at the Instituto de Ecologia y Sistematica belong to Mesocapromys auritus. Finally, we include six unpublished photos of specimens of M. sanfelipensis captured in 1970 during two expeditions to Cayo Juan Garcia.
References
Amaro Valdes, S. (2012) Lista Roja de la fauna cubana. Editorial AMA, La Habana, 171 pp.
Arredondo de la Mata, O. (2012) A traditional Cuban perspective on the taxonomy of Capromyid rodent fossils. In: Borroto Páez, R., Woods, C.A. & Sergile, F.E. (Eds.), Terrestrial Mammals of the West Indies. Publ. Florida Museum of Natural History and Wacahoota Press, Books of Lasting Value, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 259–285.
Borroto Paez, R. (2011) Las jutias perdidas o fantasmas. In: Borroto Paez, R. & Mancina, C.A. (Eds.), Mamiferos en Cuba. UPC Print, Vaasa, Finlandia, pp. 109–115.
Borroto-Paez, R. (2012) Mesocapromys sanfelipensis. In: González Alonso, H., Rodríguez-Schettino, L., Rodríguez, A., Mancina, C.A. & Ramos García, I. (Eds.), Libro Rojo de los Vertebrados de Cuba. Editorial Academia, La Habana, pp. 280–281.
Borroto-Páez, R. & Mancina, C.A. (2017) Biodiversity and conservation of Cuban mammals: past, present, and invasive species. Journal of Mammalogy, 98 (4), 964–985.
https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyx017Borroto-Paez, R., Lopez Carvajal, O. & Pina Iglesias, J.C. (2011) La Jutia Conguina. In: Borroto Paez, R. & Mancina, C.A. (Eds.), Mamiferos en Cuba. UPC Print, Vaasa, Finlandia, pp. 103–107.
Borroto-Paez, R. & Ramos, I. (2012) Status of the hutias (Rodentia: Capromyidae) in Los Canarreos Archipelago, Cuba. In: Borroto Páez, R., Woods, C.A. & Sergile, F.E. (Eds.), Terrestrial Mammals of the West Indies. Publ. Florida Museum of Natural History and Wacahoota Press, Books of Lasting Value, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 212–218.
Borroto-Paez, R. & Ramos, I. (2012) West Indian Terrestrial Mammals in World Collections. In: Borroto Páez, R., Woods, C.A. & Sergile, F.E. (Eds.), Terrestrial Mammals of the West Indies. Publ. Florida Museum of Natural History and Wacahoota Press, Books of Lasting Value, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 11–32.
Curtis, J.H., Brenner, M. & Hodell, D.A. (2001) Climate change in the Circum-Caribbean (Late Pleistocene to Present) and implications for regional biogeography. In: Woods, C.A. & Sergile, F. (Eds.), Biogeography of the West Indies. Second Edition, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, pp. 35–54.
https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420039481.ch3Fairbanks, R.G. (1989) A 17,000-year glacio-eustatic sea level record: influence of glacial melting rates on the Younger Dryas event and deep-ocean circulation. Nature, 342 (6250), 637–642.
https://doi.org/10.1038/342637a0Frias, A.I., Berovides, V. & Fernandez, C. (1988) Situacion actual de la Jutiita de la tierra Capromys sanfelipensis (Rodentia, Mammalia). Doñana, Acta Vertebrata, 15 (2), 252–254.
Garrido, O.H. (1973) Anfibios, reptiles y aves de Cayo Real (Cayos de San Felipe), Cuba. Poeyana, 119, 1–49.
Garrido, H.O. (2011) Notas inéditas sobre jutias. In: Borroto Paez, R. & Mancina, C.A. (Eds.), Mamiferos en Cuba. UPC Print, Vaasa, Finlandia, pp. 117–121.
Gregory, B.R., Peros, M., Reinhardt, E.G. & Donnelly, J.P. (2015) Middle-late Holocene Caribbean aridity inferred from foraminifera and elemental data in sediment cores from two Cuban lagoons. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 426, 229–241.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.02.029Iturralde-Vinent, M.A. (2003) Ensayo sobre la paleogeografía del Cuaternario de Cuba. V Congreso de Geología y Minería, 2003, 54–74.
Iturralde-Vinent, M.A. (2006) Meso-Cenozoic Caribbean paleogeography: implications for the historical biogeography of the region. International Geology Review, 48 (9), 791–827.
https://doi.org/10.2747/0020-6814.48.9.791Iturralde-Vinent, M.A., MacPhee, R.D., Franco, S.D., Rojas-Consuegra, R., Suárez, W. & Lomba, A. (2000) Las Breas de San Felipe, a Quaternary fossiliferous asphalt seep near Martí (Matanzas Province, Cuba). Caribbean Journal of Science, 36 (3/4), 300–313.
Jaimez Salgado, E. & Ortega Sastriques, F. (2009) El cambio climático y la extinción de la fauna vertebrada del cuaternario cubano. Mapping: Map and Sig consulting, 137, pp. 89–94.
Jiminez Vazquez, O. (2001) Registros ornitologicos en residuarios de dieta de los aborigenes preceramicos cubanos. Pitirre, 14, 120–126.
Jimenez Vazques, O., Viñola Lopez, L.W. & Sueiro, A. (2014) Una mirada al pasado de los cocodrilos de Cuba. In: Tabet, M.A., Targarona, R.R., Soberón, R.R., Thorbjarnarson, J., Ferrer, J.B. & Álvarez, V.B (Eds.), Los Crocodylia de Cuba. Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, pp. 233–248.
Kratochvíl, J., Rodríguez, L. & V. Baruš. (1978) Capromyinae (Rodentia) of Cuba. I. Acta Scientiarum Naturalium, Brno, 12 (11), 1–60.
Kratochvíl, J., Rodríguez, L. & Baruš, V. (1980) Capromyinae (Rodentia) of Cuba. II . Acta Scientiarum Naturalium, Brno, 14 (3), 1–46.
Olson, S.L. (1978) A Paleontological Perspective of West Indian Birds and Mammals. Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia Special Publication, 13, 99–117.
Ortega, F. (1982) Determinación de las lluvias en Cuba durante la glaciación de Wisconsin. Tierra Espacio, 7, 57–68.
Ortega, F. (1983) Una hipótesis sobre el clima de Cuba durante la glaciación de Wisconsin, mediante los relictos edáficos. Tierra Espacio, 4, 85–104.
Ortega, F., de León, D.P., Salgado, E.J. & Almirall, A.L. (2008) Clima wisconsiano en Cuba deducido por las características de los suelos. Revista Cubana de Meteorología, 17 (1), 1–35.
Otero, A.C. & Baruš, V. (1980) New definitive host for Pseudoheligmosomum howelli (Nematoda: Heligmosomatidae) in Cuba. Miscelanea Zoologica, 11, 1–4.
Otero, A.C. & Garcia Rodriguez, N. (2012) Helminths of the Cuban land mammals. In: Borroto Páez, R., Woods, C.A. & Sergile, F.E. (Eds.), Terrestrial Mammals of the West Indies. Publ. Florida Museum of Natural History and Wacahoota Press, Books of Lasting Value, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 375–378.
Perera, A., Berovides, V., Garrido, O.H., Estrada, A., González, A. & Álvarez, M. (1994) Criterios para la selección de especies amenazadas de vertebrados cubanos. Tercer Simposio de Zoología, 96–109.
Ramos Garcia, I. & Borroto Paez, R. (2005) Catálogo de Mamíferos Terrestres Vivientes de la Colección del Instituto de Ecología y Sistemática, La Habana, Cuba. Poeyana, 492, 5–13.
Ramos Garcia, I. & Borroto Paez, R. (2012) Terrestrial mammals collections in Cuba. In: Borroto Páez, R., Woods, C.A. & Sergile, F.E. (Eds.), Terrestrial Mammals of the West Indies. Publ. Florida Museum of Natural History and Wacahoota Press, Books of Lasting Value, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 33–50.
Rojas-Consuegra, R., Jiménez-Vázquez, O., Condis-Fernández, M.M. & Díaz-Franco, S. (2012) Tafonomía y paleoecología de un yacimiento paleontológico del Cuaternario en la cueva del Indio, La Habana, Cuba. Espelunca digital (SEC), 12, 1–12.
Steadman, D.W., Martin, P.S., MacPhee, R.D., Jull, A.T., McDonald, H.G., Woods, C.A. & Hodgins, G.W. (2005) Asynchronous extinction of late Quaternary sloths on continents and islands. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102 (33), 11763–11768.
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0502777102Silva-Taboada, G., Suárez Duque, W. & Díaz Franco, S. (2007) Compendio de los Mamíferos Terrestres Autóctonos de Cuba Vivientes y Extinguidos. Ediciones Boloña, La Habana, 465 pp.
Upham, N.S. & Borroto-Páez, R. (2017) Molecular phylogeography of endangered Cuban hutias within the Caribbean radiation of capromyid rodents. Journal of Mammalogy, 98 (4), 950–963.
https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyx077Vales, M., Álvarez, A., Montes, L. & Ávila, A. (1998) Estudio nacional sobre la diversidad biológica en la República de Cuba. Cesyta, Madrid, 480 pp.
Varona, L.S. & Arredondo, O. (1979) Nuevos taxones fósiles de Capromyidae (Rodentia: Caviomorpha). Poeyana, 195, 1–51.
Varona, L.S. & Garrido, O.H. (1970) Vertebrados de los cayos de San Felipe, Cuba, incluyendo una nueva especie de jutía. Poeyana, 75, 1–26.