{"id":111049,"date":"2024-10-06T12:33:48","date_gmt":"2024-10-06T05:33:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=111049"},"modified":"2024-10-06T12:33:48","modified_gmt":"2024-10-06T05:33:48","slug":"stunningly-preserved-bones-of-extinct-caribbean-monkey-found-by-divers-sciencealert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=111049","title":{"rendered":"Stunningly Preserved Bones of Extinct Caribbean Monkey Found by Divers : ScienceAlert"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A team of cave divers and scientists have uncovered a new cache of extinct monkey fossils submerged deep within the underwater passages of a Caribbean cave.<\/p>\n<p>Forty years ago, only a few well-preserved remains of New World monkeys had been found on the Caribbean islands of Hispaniola and Jamaica, but it was enough to hint at a missing patch of primate evolutionary history.<\/p>\n<p>One of these fossil species was the Hispaniola monkey (<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hispaniola_monkey\"><em>Antillothrix bernensis<\/em><\/a>), known only via an ankle bone and a few bits of broken jaw.<\/p>\n<p>But with improvements in <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cave_diving\">cave diving<\/a> safety and technology, researchers have probed deeper into the islands&#8217; flooded cave systems since 2009, with the first <em>A. bernensis <\/em>skull <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1098%2Frspb.2010.1249\">found in 2011<\/a>. These submarine caverns, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2017\/04\/Beekeretal.pdf\">significant to the indigenous Ta\u00edno people<\/a>, are studded with &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.jhevol.2024.103589\">remarkably well-preserved<\/a>&#8221; fossils that have lain there for millennia, protected from the jostling of waves and animals.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_139900\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-139900\" style=\"width: 2880px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/study-of-monkey-fossil-divers.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2880\" height=\"1920\" class=\"wp-image-139900 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/study-of-monkey-fossil-divers.jpg 2880w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/study-of-monkey-fossil-divers-642x428.jpg 642w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/study-of-monkey-fossil-divers-623x415.jpg 623w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/study-of-monkey-fossil-divers-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/study-of-monkey-fossil-divers-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/study-of-monkey-fossil-divers-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/study-of-monkey-fossil-divers-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2880px) 100vw, 2880px\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-139900\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Divers from the Dominican Republic Speleological Society observe <em>Antillothrix<\/em> fossils underwater. (Zachary Klukkert)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The latest finds, out of the Cueva Macho cave system, on the Dominican Republic side of Hispaniola, add new detail to our understanding of the extinct species.<\/p>\n<p><span>&#8220;The number and quality of the <em>Antillothrix<\/em> crania outlined in this paper allow us to describe the skull completely and understand variation between individuals,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2024-10-monkey-fossils-cave-animals-extinction.html\">says<\/a> Johns Hopkins University paleobiologist Siobh\u00e1n Cooke. <\/span><span>&#8220;This can tell us about the diet and social systems of these animals.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Four new skulls were found in the cave, along with three new mandibles. With these new pieces from the Cueva Macho system, as well as an adult mandible found in a similar cave called Padre Nuestro, the entire <em>Antillothrix bernensis <\/em>species is now represented by <span>seven near-complete crania, two maxillae fragments, an occipital fragment, five complete mandibles, and dozens of other non-skull bones. <\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_139851\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-139851\" style=\"width: 2775px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/Juan-Almonte-Milan-inspecting-one-of-the-new-crania.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2775\" height=\"2453\" class=\"wp-image-139851 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/Juan-Almonte-Milan-inspecting-one-of-the-new-crania.jpg 2775w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/Juan-Almonte-Milan-inspecting-one-of-the-new-crania-642x568.jpg 642w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/Juan-Almonte-Milan-inspecting-one-of-the-new-crania-469x415.jpg 469w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/Juan-Almonte-Milan-inspecting-one-of-the-new-crania-768x679.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/Juan-Almonte-Milan-inspecting-one-of-the-new-crania-1536x1358.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/Juan-Almonte-Milan-inspecting-one-of-the-new-crania-2048x1810.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/Juan-Almonte-Milan-inspecting-one-of-the-new-crania-600x530.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2775px) 100vw, 2775px\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-139851\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Juan Almonte-Milan inspects one of the new crania found within Cueva Macho. (Phillip Lehman)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It doesn&#8217;t sound like much to go off, but this collection \u2013 especially the skulls \u2013 goes a long way in describing the monkeys&#8217; size, diet, sex differences, even social lives. And that&#8217;s more detail than we have for any other Caribbean monkeys.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<span>These new specimens, in combination with those previously described, will allow for a detailed study of population- and species-level variation, an exceedingly rare opportunity for any fossil primate,&#8221; the authors <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.jhevol.2024.103589\">write<\/a> in their paper. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>By analyzing the fossils, the researchers estimate that males and females were of a similar size, up to 3.4 kilograms (around 7 pounds), which suggests mating wasn&#8217;t overly competitive, and that they may have lived in small monogamous family groups with young depending on their parents.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_139855\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-139855\" style=\"width: 2784px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/image003.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2784\" height=\"1896\" class=\"size-full wp-image-139855\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/image003.jpg 2784w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/image003-642x437.jpg 642w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/image003-609x415.jpg 609w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/image003-768x523.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/image003-1536x1046.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/image003-2048x1395.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/images\/2024\/10\/image003-600x409.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2784px) 100vw, 2784px\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-139855\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">This skull and mandible, photographed on the cave floor where they were found prior to collection, may have been resting there for thousands of years. (Phillip Lehman)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Their rounded teeth, with small canines, would have suited a diet of fruit, similar to the modern <span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Titi_monkey\">South American titi monkeys<\/a>, which have similar physical features. And they appear to have had no wisdom teeth, which is rare among primates.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a mystery how these monkeys got inside the caves all those years ago, but based on damage to the jaw fossils, Cooke suspects it was not by choice.<\/p>\n<p><span>&#8220;It could be possible that a now extinct owl, which would have been quite large, caught these monkeys and brought them into the cave where it was living &#8211;rather than the monkeys falling in at random,&#8221; she <a href=\"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2024-10-monkey-fossils-cave-animals-extinction.html\">says<\/a>. &#8220;Owl feeding deposits are not uncommon in Hispaniolan caves.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The Hispaniola monkey became extinct within the last 10,000 years, but it&#8217;s unclear just what drove this species under.<\/p>\n<p><span>&#8220;These fossils help us to better understand the anatomy of <em>Antillothrix<\/em>, which can help us identify ecological factors that might have predisposed it to extinction\u2026 [and] ultimately guide policy for preserving the remaining mammalian diversity on the Caribbean islands and elsewhere &#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2024-10-monkey-fossils-cave-animals-extinction.html\">says<\/a> Cooke.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>This research was published in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.jhevol.2024.103589\">Journal of Human Evolution<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/stunningly-preserved-bones-of-extinct-caribbean-monkey-found-by-divers\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A team of cave divers and scientists have uncovered a new cache of extinct monkey fossils submerged deep within the underwater passages of a Caribbean cave. Forty years ago, only &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=111049\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8628],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=111049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111049\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=111049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=111049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=111049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}