Da. Burney et al., ENVIRONMENTAL-CHANGE, EXTINCTION AND HUMAN ACTIVITY - EVIDENCE FROM CAVES IN NW MADAGASCAR, Journal of biogeography, 24(6), 1997, pp. 755-767
In the last 2000 years, changes on the island of Madagascar have resul
ted in the modification of key environments and the extinction of near
ly all large native animals. Humans have long been suspected as the pr
imary cause of this ecological catastrophe, but the exact mechanisms o
f the island's rapid transformation and the role of natural factors su
ch as climate change remain uncertain. Caves in northwestern Madagasca
r are helping researchers to disentangle these factors, by providing m
any types of datable information concerning the past in close physical
proximity. U-series dated pollen spectra from the caverns of Anjohibe
provide a 40,000-year record of vegetation in the vicinity. Bone depo
sits from caves in the region provide new site records for extinct tar
e, including Babakotia radofilai Godfrey et al. 1990, Plesiorycteropus
madagascariensis Filhol 1895, and Mullerornis sp. Several extant taxa
that were present in the region in the late Holocene are now locally
extinct. Archaeological evidence from the caves suggests little or no
human activity in the vicinity or interaction with the fauna at these
sites until recent centuries.