A Short History of Greater Antillean Land Mammals: Biogeography, Paleogeography, Radiations, and Extinctions.

Abstract

The two major island-arcs in the Caribbean Sea-the Greater and hsser Antilles-have a Iong and complex history. A similar complexity attends the biogeographical history of the land vertebrates of these islands, concerning which there has been abundant argument but little resolution (e.g., Hedges, L996; Page & Lydeard, 1.996; crother & Guyer, L996; Ituiralde-vinent & Macphee, 1999). The objective of this short review is (1) to examine some recent explorations of the problem of Antillean faunal formation, with special reference to new developments in the study of Antillean paleogeography; and (2) to chronicle the evidence for species diversification and depletion (i.e., radiation and extinction) in the West Indies, with special reference to the faunal catastrophes visited on these islands during the Quaternary period