Bochaton Corentin
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Straße 10, D-07745 Jena, Germany.
PACEA - UMR CNRS 5199, Université de Bordeaux, 33 615 Pessac Cedex, France.
R Soc Open Sci. 2022 Jul 13;9(7):220256. doi: 10.1098/rsos.220256. eCollection 2022 Jul.
Although the importance of the archaeological record for addressing questions of biodiversity is gaining ground, its relevance for describing past faunal communities is still under-exploited, particularly for the most under-documented areas and species. Among the most poorly documented taxa are reptiles and amphibians, which are rarely studied in detail in the archaeological record, even in tropical areas where most of these species occur today. Here I evaluate the archaeological and paleontological significance of reptiles and amphibians from the Indigenous archaeological record of the insular Caribbean. Quantitative (bone counts) and qualitative (taxonomic identification) analyses allow researchers to discuss the role of herpetofauna in the subsistence strategies of Indigenous populations as well as their interest for assessing past insular biodiversity. This overview sheds light on both the poor representation of herpetofaunal taxa in Caribbean archaeological deposits and trends in the potential exploitation of reptiles and amphibians by Indigenous populations. In terms of paleoecology, the presented results reveal strong regional differences in the quality and density of data as well as the inadequacy of available archaeofaunal data for addressing questions of past biodiversity.
尽管考古记录对于解决生物多样性问题的重要性日益凸显，但其在描述过去动物群落方面的相关性仍未得到充分利用，尤其是在记录最为匮乏的地区和物种方面。记录最为欠缺的类群包括爬行动物和两栖动物，在考古记录中它们很少得到详细研究，即便在如今多数此类物种分布的热带地区也是如此。在此，我评估了来自加勒比海岛屿地区原住民考古记录中的爬行动物和两栖动物的考古学及古生物学意义。定量分析（骨骼计数）和定性分析（分类鉴定）使研究人员能够探讨爬行动物和两栖动物在原住民生存策略中的作用，以及它们对于评估过去岛屿生物多样性的价值。这一概述揭示了加勒比海考古沉积物中爬行动物和两栖动物类群代表性不足的情况，以及原住民对爬行动物和两栖动物潜在利用的趋势。在古生态学方面，所呈现的结果揭示了数据质量和密度存在显著的区域差异，以及现有考古动物数据在解决过去生物多样性问题上的不足。
