The origin and extinction of the large endemic Pleistocene mammals of Cyprus

Abstract

Biogeographia - vol. XXI - 2000 (Pubblicato il 30 giugno 2000) Biogeografia deI|’Anatolia The origin and extinction of the large endemic Pleistocene mammals of Cyprus ELEFTHERIOS I-IAD]ISTERKOTIS*, BRUNO MASALA**, DAVID S. REESE *** *Gzzme and Fzzunzl Service, Ministry of Interior — Nicosia (Cyprus) “Department of Physiological Bioc/aemiczzl and Cell Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of S[l55ll7’i - Sizssrzri (Italy) ***Depimment of/lntbropology, Field Museum 0fNzztzmzl Histmy — Chicago (USA) Key words: Fossils, hippopotamus, elephant, Cyprus, Pleistocene, extinction, Mediterranean SUMMARY All fossil terrestrial mammal sites on the island of Cyprus are dated from the Late Pleistocene period and consist almost exclusively of the remains of two terrestrial mammals, pygmy hippopotamus (P/J/mmzrios nzizzz/ms) and pygmy elephant (Elep/ms cypriater). Two theories exist on the arrival of these species on Cyprus. The first is that they arrived by a land bridge. This took place during the Pliocene about five to six million years ago when the Mediterranean sea was sealed at both ends clue to tectonic movements and its water evaporated creating a land bridge. However, there are no fossils dating from the Pliocene The second theory is that they arrived under circumstances described by the Island Sweepstakes model. The latter theory refers to cases in which animals may venture far from the coast, reach an isolated island from which they cannot return and are Forced to settle there. We reject the possibility that the Late Pleistocene mammals of Cyprus arrived by a land bridge, because during the Pleistocene such a bridge never existed. The cause of extinction of the earlier Cypriot endemic large mammals remain unclear. The discovery at the site ofAltrotiri /letokrenmos of the above pygmy mammal species together with man—made artefacts has been interpreted by some researchers as proof of a human role in the extinction of these mammals. Others rejected this view. We review the facts about this discovery and believe that humans did play a role in the final extinction of these species. THE ORIGIN OF THE LARGE PLEISTOCENE MAMMALS OF CYPRUS In Cyprus, Late Pleistocene fossil and subfossil sites consist almost exclusively of pygmy hippopotamus (P/annourios minzitus) (Forsyth Major, 1902; Bate 1906; Boekschoten and Sondaar, 1972; Houtekamer and Sondaar, 1979; Faure et al., 1983, Hadjisterkotis and Masala, 1995; Reese, 1975, 1989, 1992, 1995, 1996; Simmons, 1988a, b, 1989, 1991a,b,c, 1992, 1996; Swiny, 1988, 1995; Simmons and Reese, 1993; Simmons and Wigand, 1994) and pygmy elephant (Elepnczs Q)/priotes) (Bate, 19033, 1904a,b,c; Hadjisterkotis and Masala, 1995; Reese, 1995, 1996b; Simmons, 1988, 1989, 1991a,b,c, 1992, 1996). Both species were considerably smaller than their mainland counterparts, and most researchers believe that the dvvarfism was an evolutionary response both to the lack of predators and to the limited resources available (Sondaar, 1977; Azzaroli, 1982).