Evolution, diversity and interactions with past human populations of recently extinct <i>Pholidoscelis</i> lizards (Squamata: Teiidae) from the Guadeloupe Islands (French West-Indies)

This paper aims to demonstrate how subfossil bone remains from Pleistocene and Holocene deposits can help to reconstruct the history of recently extinct taxa through the example of <i>Pholidoscelis</i> lizards from the Guadeloupe Islands in the French West Indies. To achieve this, we conducted a new anatomical and zooarchaeological study of fossil <i>Pholidoscelis</i> remains collected from 23 archaeological and paleontological deposits on the Guadeloupe Islands from which this genus is nowadays absent. Our results shed light on the past existence of large <i>Pholidoscelis</i> lizards on all the Guadeloupe islands but also on the difficulties of confident specific identification for these remains. Nevertheless, we suggest a possible past occurrence of the now extinct <i>Pholidoscelis major</i> on nearly all of the Guadeloupe islands. In addition, we identified a new <i>Pholidoscelis</i> species, <i>Pholidoscelis turukaeraensis</i> sp. nov., on Marie-Galante Island, where no <i>Pholidoscelis</i> lizards were previously reported. This new species underwent an increase in size after the end of the Pleistocene period, possibly due to reduced predation pressure. We also highlight the consumption of <i>Pholidoscelis</i> lizards by pre-Columbian Amerindians and the huge impact of European colonization, which led to the extinction of all these lizards in less than 300 years.http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:15C39436-A083-483F-B35E-78807B606904本研究旨在通过法属西印度群岛瓜德罗普群岛的*Pholidoscelis*蜥蜴实例，展示更新世（Pleistocene）与全新世（Holocene）沉积物中的亚化石骨骼遗存如何助力重建近期灭绝类群的演化历史。为此，我们对从瓜德罗普群岛23处考古与古生物沉积位点中采集的*Pholidoscelis*化石遗存开展了全新的解剖学与动物考古学研究——该群岛现今已无该属物种分布。研究结果阐明了瓜德罗普所有岛屿上曾存在大型*Pholidoscelis*蜥蜴的历史，同时也指出了对这类遗存进行可靠物种鉴定的难点所在。尽管如此，我们提出，几乎所有瓜德罗普岛屿上都曾存在现已灭绝的*Pholidoscelis major*。此外，我们在玛丽-加朗特岛（Marie-Galante Island）发现了一个新的*Pholidoscelis*物种——*Pholidoscelis turukaeraensis* sp. nov.，该岛此前从未有过*Pholidoscelis*蜥蜴的报道记录。这一新物种在更新世结束后体型有所增大，这可能与捕食压力降低有关。我们还证实了前哥伦布时期的美洲印第安人曾捕食*Pholidoscelis*蜥蜴，同时揭示了欧洲殖民活动带来的毁灭性影响：这类蜥蜴在不到300年的时间里便全数灭绝。相关链接：http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:15C39436-A083-483F-B35E-78807B606904

搜集汇总

背景与挑战

背景概述

该数据集包含关于瓜德罗普群岛近期灭绝的Pholidoscelis蜥蜴的亚化石骨骼研究数据，旨在通过分析更新世和全新世遗骸重建其进化历史和多样性，包括发现新物种Pholidoscelis turukaeraensis sp. nov.。研究还揭示了人类活动（如美洲原住民消费和欧洲殖民）对这些蜥蜴在300年内灭绝的重大影响，数据涉及骨学、古生物学和动物考古学分析。