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Differential preservation of vertebrates in Southeast Asian caves
Louys J.a,g, Kealy S.a, O’Connor S.a, Price G.J.b, Hawkins S.a, Aplin K., Rizal Y.d, Zaim J.d, Mahirtae, Tanudirjo D.A.e, Santoso W.D.d, Hidayah A.R.e, Trihascaryo A.d, Wood R.a, Bevitt J.f, Clark T.b,g
a ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, 0200, Australia
b School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, 4072, Australia
c Division of Mammals, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 20560, United States
d Institut Teknologi Bandung, 40132, Indonesia
e Jurusan Arkeologi, Fakultas Ilmu Budaya, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, 55281, Indonesia
f Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, 2232, Australia
g Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, 4111, Australia
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_separator css=”.vc_custom_1624529070653{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner layout=”boxed”][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1624695412187{border-right-width: 1px !important;border-right-color: #dddddd !important;border-right-style: solid !important;border-radius: 1px !important;}”][vc_empty_space][megatron_heading title=”Abstract” size=”size-sm” text_align=”text-left”][vc_column_text]© 2017, Societa Speleologica Italiana. All rights reserved.Caves have been an important source of vertebrate fossils for much of Southeast Asia, particularly for the Quaternary. Despite this importance, the mechanisms by which vertebrate remains accumulate and preserve in Southeast Asian caves has never been systematically reviewed or examined. Here, we present the results of three years of cave surveys in Indonesia and Timor-Leste, describing cave systems and their attendant vertebrate accumulations in diverse geological, biogeographical, and environmental settings. While each cave system is unique, we find that the accumulation and preservation of vertebrate remains are highly dependent on local geology and environment. These factors notwithstanding, we find the dominant factor responsible for faunal deposition is the presence or absence of biological accumulating agents, a factor directly dictated by biogeographical history. In small, isolated, volcanic islands, the only significant accumulation occurs in archaeological settings, thereby limiting our understanding of the palaeontology of those islands prior to human arrival. In karstic landscapes on both oceanic and continental islands, our understanding of the longterm preservation of vertebrates is still in its infancy. The formation processes of vertebratebearing breccias, their taphonomic histories, and the criteria used to determine whether these represent syngenetic or multiple deposits remain critically understudied. The latter in particular has important implications for arguments on how breccia deposits from the region should be analysed and interpreted when reconstructing palaeoenvironments.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_separator css=”.vc_custom_1624528584150{padding-top: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;}”][vc_empty_space][megatron_heading title=”Author keywords” size=”size-sm” text_align=”text-left”][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_separator css=”.vc_custom_1624528584150{padding-top: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;}”][vc_empty_space][megatron_heading title=”Indexed keywords” size=”size-sm” text_align=”text-left”][vc_column_text]Geoarchaeology,Palaeontology,Sumatra,Taphonomy,Wallacea[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_separator css=”.vc_custom_1624528584150{padding-top: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;}”][vc_empty_space][megatron_heading title=”Funding details” size=”size-sm” text_align=”text-left”][vc_column_text][{‘$’: ‘questions regarding interactions between humans and other vertebrates may require data at the precision We acknowledge the generous funding provided by of major glacial periods (i.e., scales of thousands of ARC Laureate Project FL120100156 (to S. O’Connor), years), or even higher, research questions regarding ARC Discovery Project DP120101752 (to G.J. Price), palaeobiological processes or evolution play out over Leaky Foundation Grant “Palaeontological and scales of many hundreds of thousands to millions archaeological investigations of Pleistocene cave of years. For such questions, data from Southeast deposits from Sumatra”, and a Research School of Asia Asian assemblages (breccia or otherwise), even if and the Pacific Grant Development Support Grant time-averaged, still prove invaluable for formulating (to J. Louys). Funding for tomographic analysis was testable hypotheses and useful discussions. provided by Bragg Institute Neutron Proposal P4561.’}, {‘$’: ‘Like all deposit types, the potential of a cave to Julien Louys is supported by ARC Future Fellowship preserve locally occurring vertebrates autochthonously Project FT160100450. We thank the students at can also bias a region’s fossil record, in terms of Universitas Gadjah Mada and staff at Balai Arkeologi both species representation and perceptions of past for their assistance during fieldwork in Talaud, biogeographic distributions (Yass & George, 2010). In Sangihe, Alor, and Pantar, and Christian Reepmeyer Southeast Asia, such biases are likely to be acute, as and Felicitas Hopf for their invaluable contributions to for many regions fossil records are, at present, solely or fieldwork in Talaud and Sangihe. Fieldwork in Timor largely represented only by cave deposits. Currently, was undertaken with the assistance of Cecilia Assis examination of the regional nature of this bias may be and the Ministerio da Educacao, Cultura, Juventude possible using the fossil records of Java and China. e Desporto de Timor-Leste. We thank R. Lee Lyman, However, given the difficulties of finding non-cave David S. Gillieson, and an anonymous reviewer whose sites in densely vegetated, tropical environments such insightful comments helped improve this manuscript. as Southeast Asia (e.g., Morley, 2016), it is perhaps unlikely that this bias can ever be properly evaluated REFERENCES for many islands or regions in low latitudes. Abbott M.J. & Chamalaun F.H., 1981 – Geochronology of CCONCLUSIONS some Banda Arc volcanics. The geology and tectonics of Eastern Indonesia, 2: 253-268. While geological factors clearly have a strong impact Aplin K.P. & Helgen K.M., 2010 – Quaternary murid on the likelihood of preservation of vertebrates in PRrodeOnts of TmorO P rt InewmaFterial of Coryphomys ORRECbuehleri TS haub, 1 aEnd descrDip ion of a second Southeast Asian caves, biotic processes are the species of the genus.Bulletin of the American Museum ultimate drivers in accumulation. It is these processes of Natural History, 341: 1-80. that provide the faunal material that may then be https://doi.org/10.1206/692.1 subjected to long term geological preservation. Biotic processes in Southeast Asia are strongly dictated by biogeographical constraints, with owls and humans emerging as the dominant bone accumulating agent in many of the small, isolated islands of Wallacea. In the larger, continental regions of Southeast Asia, other mammalian accumulators, most notably porcupines (but probably extending to hyenas and other trogloxene carnivores outside of Sumatra) appear to be the dominant bone accumulators. 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Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 422: 101-127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.01.011 Barker G., (Ed.). 2013 – Rainforest foraging and farming in Island Southeast Asia. McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge, 464 p.’}][/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_separator css=”.vc_custom_1624528584150{padding-top: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;}”][vc_empty_space][megatron_heading title=”DOI” size=”size-sm” text_align=”text-left”][vc_column_text]https://doi.org/10.5038/1827-806X.46.3.2131[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_column_text]Widget Plumx[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator css=”.vc_custom_1624528584150{padding-top: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 25px !important;}”][/vc_column][/vc_row]