NewsWhore
08-19-2009, 01:41 PM
Leading US science publications are reporting on what has been one of the most important scientific discoveries in the Caribbean in recent times. University of Indiana researchers have uncovered the bones of a small primate and others identified as from now-extinct Caribbean animals in an underwater cave. The remains were found in a cave along with stone tools estimated to be about 4,000 to 6,500 years old, according to Geoffrey Conrad, director of the Mathers Museum of World Culture at IU Bloomington. He said the primate could be between 4,000 and 10,000 years old.
"I know of no place that has sloths, a primate (possibly an extinct monkey) and humanly made stone tools together in a nice, tight association around the same time," Conrad said in a statement.
"Right now it looks like a potential treasure trove of data to help us sort out the relationship in time between humans and extinct animals in the Greater Antilles. This site definitely is worthy of a large-scale investigation."
The primate skull is believed to that of a howler monkey, which is extinct in the Caribbean. The sloth bones came from several species of sloths, one of which was the size of a black bear and another the size of a large dog.
The researchers say the treasure trove holds clues to the Caribbean's earliest inhabitants.
"I couldn't believe my eyes as I viewed each of these astonishing discoveries underwater," said lead researcher Charles Beeker, director of Academic Diving and Underwater Science Programs at Indiana University, Bloomington. "The virtually intact extinct faunal skeletons really amazed me, but what may prove to be a fire pit from the first human occupation of the island just seems too good to be true."
The discoveries extend by thousands of years the scope of investigations led Charles Beeker, director of Academic Diving and Underwater Science Programs at IU Bloomington's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, and his interdisciplinary team of collaborators.
The researchers' focus has been on the era a mere 500 years ago when the Old World and New World first met after Christopher Columbus stepped ashore in the Caribbean -- and on scintillating pirate lore. This rare find is expected to give insights into the earliest inhabitants of the Greater Antilles and the animals they encountered.
The study is underway in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture through its Office of Underwater Heritage and the Museum of Dominican Man, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Environment.
The same IU team is also assisting the government in the developments following the finding of the Captain Kidd ship, the Quedagh Merchant, in waters off Catalina Island in the nearby area. The pirate ship had been sought for years.
http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/11644.html
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#10)
"I know of no place that has sloths, a primate (possibly an extinct monkey) and humanly made stone tools together in a nice, tight association around the same time," Conrad said in a statement.
"Right now it looks like a potential treasure trove of data to help us sort out the relationship in time between humans and extinct animals in the Greater Antilles. This site definitely is worthy of a large-scale investigation."
The primate skull is believed to that of a howler monkey, which is extinct in the Caribbean. The sloth bones came from several species of sloths, one of which was the size of a black bear and another the size of a large dog.
The researchers say the treasure trove holds clues to the Caribbean's earliest inhabitants.
"I couldn't believe my eyes as I viewed each of these astonishing discoveries underwater," said lead researcher Charles Beeker, director of Academic Diving and Underwater Science Programs at Indiana University, Bloomington. "The virtually intact extinct faunal skeletons really amazed me, but what may prove to be a fire pit from the first human occupation of the island just seems too good to be true."
The discoveries extend by thousands of years the scope of investigations led Charles Beeker, director of Academic Diving and Underwater Science Programs at IU Bloomington's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, and his interdisciplinary team of collaborators.
The researchers' focus has been on the era a mere 500 years ago when the Old World and New World first met after Christopher Columbus stepped ashore in the Caribbean -- and on scintillating pirate lore. This rare find is expected to give insights into the earliest inhabitants of the Greater Antilles and the animals they encountered.
The study is underway in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture through its Office of Underwater Heritage and the Museum of Dominican Man, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Environment.
The same IU team is also assisting the government in the developments following the finding of the Captain Kidd ship, the Quedagh Merchant, in waters off Catalina Island in the nearby area. The pirate ship had been sought for years.
http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/11644.html
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#10)