Its the 10th installment of Fossil Sirenia of the West Atlantic and Caribbean Region!

Today came out the most recent issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Amongst many other interesting papers, there is one by yours truly and former PhD advisor Daryl Domning. In our paper we describe a new sirenian taxon from early Oligocene deposits in Puerto Rico and South Carolina, its our second new species this year, as some months ago we published the description of Metaxytherium albifontanum Velez-Juarbe and Domning, 2014 (read more about it here). The fossil from Puerto Rico, which is fairly complete, comes from the same overall locality as some other fossils I've mentioned in previous posts, like Aktiogavialis puertoricensis Velez-Juarbe et al., 2007, and the oldest West Indian rodent (Velez-Juarbe et al., 2014).  This paper also marks the Tenth (!!!!) installment of the series on Fossil Sirenia of the West Atlantic and Caribbean Region, which Daryl started in 1988 (Domning, 1988)! Such long-lasting series are very uncommon!

The last time a new species of sirenian was described from Puerto Rico was 1959, when Roy H. Reinhart in his monumental work on Sirenia and Desmostylia, described Caribosiren turneri (see picture below) from the San Sebastian Formation in the northwestern part of the island. Caribosiren is a weird dugongid, it has a rostral deflection (downturning of the snout) of nearly 90º, and apparently no tusks!!

Caribosiren turneri Reinhart, 1959, from the San Sebastian Formation of Puerto Rico. Notice the extremely downturned snout  which always reminds me of Gonzo! The tip of the snout, although not preserved very well, hints at a lack of tusks.
(Photo courtesy of N.D. Pyenson) (Click on image to see larger version.)

The new fossil is from the same formation as Caribosiren. We named our new species Priscosiren atlantica, in reference to its ancestral relationship to other fossil dugongids (prisco means ancient, former) and its occurrence in the Western Atlantic region.

Priscosiren atlantica is known from multiple elements of two individuals, one from the Puerto Rico (USNM 542417) the other from South Carolina (SC 89.254). Its one of the most complete early Oligocene sirenians known. (Outline of skeleton modified from Cope, 1890).
(Click on image to see larger version.)

Slides from a talk that Daryl and I gave at the 2013 SVP annual meeting. Here we point out to several of the characters that diagnose Priscosiren atlantica as well as its relationship to other dugongids.
(Click on image to see larger version.)

 Priscosiren is represented by at least two individuals (an adult and a subadult), with associated cranial and postcranial material, making it one of the best known early Oligocene sirenians. This species occupies a special place amongst other dugongids as it seems to be ancestral (hence its name) to a clade that includes Metaxytherium spp. + Hydrodamalinae, and Dugonginae (see above). More interestingly, is that Priscosiren is found in the same formation as Caribosiren in Puerto Rico, and Crenatosiren olseni in South Carolina, and hints at the presence of sirenian multispecies communities (Velez-Juarbe et al., 2012) during the early Oligocene.

The day we found the holotype specimen of Priscosiren (USNM 542417) was the same day we found the holotype of Aktiogavialis puertoricensis, which we were able to collect that same day. In contrast, collecting Priscosiren was an ordeal, it is a long story, of discovery, failed attempts at collecting it, loss of parts, and final recovery. So stay tuned for an upcoming post about that story!

References

Domning, D. P. 1988. Fossil Sirenia of the West Atlantic and Caribbean Region. I. Metaxytherium floridanum Hay, 1922. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 8:395-426.

Reinhart, R. H. 1959. A review of the Sirenia and Desmostylia. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences 36(1):1-146.

Velez-Juarbe, J., C. A. Brochu, and H. Santos. 2007. A gharial from the Oligocene of Puerto Rico: transoceanic dispersal in the history of a nonmarine reptile. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 274:1245-1254.

Velez-Juarbe, J., and D. P. Domning. 2014. Fossil Sirenia of the West Atlantic and Caribbean Region. IX. Metaxytherium albifontanum. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34:444-464.

Velez-Juarbe, J., and D. P. Domning. 2014. Fossil Sirenia of the West Atlantic and Caribbean Region. X. Priscosiren atlantica gen. et sp. nov. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34:951-964.

Velez-Juarbe, J., D. P. Domning, and N. D. Pyenson. 2012. Iterative evolution of sympatric seacow (Dugongidae, Sirenia) assemblages during the past ~26 million years. PLoS ONE 7:e31294.

Velez-Juarbe, J., T. Martin, R. D. E. MacPhee, and D. Ortega-Ariza. 2014. The earliest Caribbean rodents: Oligocene caviomorphs from Puerto Rico. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34:157-163.

Florida gets a new species of fossil seacow!

Yesterday saw the publication (online) of the second issue of 2014 of Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Published in this issue is the description of the first new species of seacow from the Western Atlantic that I get to name. In collaboration with Daryl P. Domning, this is the latest installment in the series titled "Fossil Sirenia of the West Atlantic and Caribbean Region" which Daryl started in 1988 (Domning, 1988). Our new species, named Metaxytherium albifontanum is known from late Oligocene deposits in Florida and South Carolina. The generic name albifontanum translates into white springs (albus = white; fontanus = spring or fountain). But why did we choose that name? and what is Metaxytherium? Keep reading and you'll find out why and more. 

Scientific Names
The scientific name of organisms consist of two parts: the genus and the species. The genus is a more inclusive rank, whereas the species is more unique. In a way, you can think of the genus name as an equivalent to your last name, where there will be more members (e.g. siblings and/or parents) with that same last name, and the species name as your first name; the two, together, will form a unique combination which applies only to you. We use scientific names in order to infer relationships amongst organisms, and these are usually latinized so that they can be understood by anyone, anywhere, as a common language, instead of using the common name which changes by country and language. Now, when describing a new species and giving it a scientific name, you can choose whichever name you think appropriate, as long as its not your own (Linnaeus was the one exception; there are other rules for naming, which you can find here). You can name a species after a musician who was an inspiration, the country where it was found, or in honor of a fellow researcher, just to name a few examples.
Renowned paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson named several fossil sirenians from Florida (Simpson, 1932). Simpson had a thing for using cleverly latinized versions of formation or locality names for his new species. For example, he described some fossils from the Bone Valley district in central Florida and gave them the scientific name Felsinotherium ossivallense*, (ossivallense = Bone Valley), while another one he named Hesperosiren crataegensis*, which takes its name from Crataegus, the genus name of a plant commonly known as hawthorn, which in turn is also the name of the sedimentary unit, the Hawthorn Group, where Simpson's specimen was found. So, as a homage to G. G. Simpson and his work on the fossil sirenians from Florida we decided to use a latinized version of the name of the town of White Springs, FL, which is close to where the holotype (= name-bearing specimen) of our new species was collected; resulting in the combination Metaxytherium albifontanum.
*both Felsinotherium and Hesperosiren were later synonymized with Metaxytherium

Metaxytherium albifontanum is known from multiple elements of several individuals (each color identifies elements represented by one or more specimens; white = unknown). This makes it one of the most complete fossil sirenians known. (Outline of skeleton modified from Cope, 1890). (Click on the image to see larger version.)

What is Metaxytherium
Metaxytherium is a widespread and relatively well-known genus of fossil dugongid. There are now a total of eight species under this genus, it has a wide temporal distribution, ranging from the late Oligocene through early Pliocene, and a broad geographical distribution, with species known from Europe, northern Africa, and the Americas. Most of the species known were described and named between 1822 and the first half of the 1900's, so, unexpectedly, there was a bit of a taxonomic mess (this happens more often than we'd like). Fortunately, since 1987, there have been several papers providing us with detailed descriptions of some of the known species, as well as phylogenetic analyses (e.g. Domning and Thomas, 1987; Domning, 1988; Aranda-Manteca et al., 1994; Domning and Pervesler, 2001; Sorbi, 2008; Sorbi et al., 2012). These works have help clarify some of the taxonomic confusion surrounding some of the old names, and even a new species was described, Metaxyterium arctodites Aranda-Manteca et al., 1994, from Baja California and California. That makes M. albifontanum the first species of Metaxytherium named in 20 years!! Meaning that we are not done learning about the diversity of this group, and more may still be waiting to be described.

Slides from a talk Daryl and I gave at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 2013 Annual Meeting. Here we use M. albifontanum to illustrate some of the features that characterize the genus Metaxytherium (top two and bottom left). The phylogenetic tree on the bottom right shows the relationship between Metaxytherium spp. and other sirenians (modified from figure 15 of our paper). (Click on the image to see larger version.) 

Our new species differed from all other known species in the group. Not only that, it is the geologically oldest species of Metaxytherium. Previous assumptions on the origins of Metaxytherium had hypothesized an European origin for the group, our discovery changes that and seems to indicate a Western Atlantic origin for the genus.

Relationships with Other Species

One of the relevant results of our paper is that we got to properly define Metaxytherium. Our phylogenetic analysis (see tree above, bottom right) was consistent with previous work (e.g. Domning, 1994), showing a close relationship between Metaxytherium spp. and hydrodamalines (the group that include Steller's seacow). We also got some interesting results regarding the relationships amongst the different species of Metaxytherium. Our results indicate that the split between Metaxytherium albifontanum and the geologically younger M. krahuletzi (from the early Miocene of Europe), occurred before the late Oligocene, as the latter occupies a more basal position within the tree. The relationships within the group also seem to point to multiple dispersals across the Atlantic and/or a high degree in morphological convergence.

Paleoecology

Metaxytherium albifontanum was part of a sirenian multi-species assemblage in the late Oligocene of Florida, together with Dioplotherium manigaulti and Crenatosiren olseni. As part of that assemblage, we hypothesize M. albifontanum as a consumer of small-sized seagrasses such as eelgrass, while the other species likely fed on larger species. If this sounds familiar is because I wrote about this subject in a previous post. In fact, M. albifontanum was one of the species that inspired the iterative evolution project with Daryl and Nick Pyenson, which resulted in our open access publication in PLoS ONE (Velez-Juarbe et al., 2012). 

Assorted Random Musing: 

• I visited the Florida Museum of Natural History in 2011 to study one of the specimens (UF 49051), little did I know at that time that I would end up as a Postdoc here!
• You can see the name-bearing specimen, UF 49051, in the Florida Fossils: Evolution of Life and Land exhibit at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
• It so happened that I wrote this post from a desk at the Simpson Library of Paleontology, its filled with books and reprints donated by him, and...
• There are a lot of pictures of Simpson in this library, in some, he kind of looks like the long lost brother of Colonel Sanders...

Stay tuned as more new fossils seacows will be showing up here later this year!!

References

Aranda-Manteca, F. J., D. P. Domning, and L. G. Barnes. 1994. A new Middle Miocene sirenian of the genus Metaxytherium from Baja California: relationships and paleobiogeographic implications. Proceedings of the San Diego Society of Natural History 29:191-204.

Cope, E. D. 1890. The extinct Sirenia. American Naturalist 24:697-702.

Domning, D. P. 1988. Fossil Sirenia of the West Atlantic and Caribbean Region. I. Metaxytherium floridanum Hay, 1922. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 8:395-426.

Domning, D. P. 1994. A phylogenetic analysis of the Sirenia. Proceedings of the San Diego Society of Natural History 29:177-189.

Domning, D. P., and P. Pervesler. 2001. The osteology and relationships of Metaxytherium krahuletzi Depéret, 1895 (Mammalia: Sirenia). Abhandlungen der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft 553:1-89.

Domning, D. P., and H. Thomas. 1987. Metaxytherium serressii (Mammalia: Sirenia) from the early Pliocene of Libya and France: a reevaluation of its morphology, phyletic position, and biostratigraphic and paleoecological significance; pp. 205-232 in N. Boaz, A. El-Arnauti, A. W. Gaziry, J. de Heinzelin, and D. D. Boaz (eds.), Neogene Paleontology and Geology of Sahabi. New York (Liss).

Simpson, G. G. 1932. Fossil Sirenia of Florida and the evolution of the Sirenia. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 59:419-503.

Sorbi, S. 2008. New record of Metaxytherium (Mammalia, Sirenia) form the lower Miocene of Manosque (Provence, France). Geodiversitas 30:433-444.

Sorbi, S., D. P. Domning, S. C. Vaiani, and G. Bianucci. 2012. Metaxytherium subapenninum (Bruno, 1839) (Mammalia, Dugongidae), the latest sirenian of the Mediterranean Basin. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32:686-707.

Velez-Juarbe, J., and D. P. Domning. 2014. Fossil Sirenia of the West Atlantic and Caribbean Region. IX. Metaxytherium albifontanum sp. nov. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34:444-464.

Velez-Juarbe, J., D. P. Domning, and N. D. Pyenson. 2012. Iterative evolution of sympatric seacow (Dugongidae, Sirenia) assemblages during the past ~26 million years. PLoS ONE 7:e31294.

Publicaciones de fósiles de Puerto Rico / Publications on fossils from Puerto Rico

Para esta nota he recopilado un listado de publicaciones que tratan sobre fósiles de Puerto Rico. Por supuesto que el listado está viciado a favor de publicaciones sobre vertebrados fósiles los cuales son mis favoritos o invertebrados con los cuales he trabajado en el pasado. Si conoces referencias adicionales me puedes avisar (a través de correo electrónico o comentarios abajo) para asi añadirlos a la lista. Algunas de las referencias incluso están enlazados su pdf gratis.

For this post I have compiled a list of publications that deals with fossils from Puerto Rico. Of course it is somewhat biased toward vertebrates, which are my favorites or invertebrates on which I have worked on previous occasions. If you know additional references that are not here just let me know (either through emails or comments below) and they will be added. Some of these are linked to their free pdf.

Updated: 11/Dec/2025

Allen, J. A. 1916. An extinct octodont from the island of Porto Rico, West Indies. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 27:17-22.

Anthony, H. E. 1916a. Preliminary diagnosis of an apparently new family of insectivores. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 35(41):725-728.

Anthony, H. E. 1916b. Preliminary report of fossil mammals from Porto Rico, with descriptions of a new genus of ground sloth and two new genera of hystricomorph rodents. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 27:193-203.

Anthony, H. E. 1917a. New fossil rodents from Porto Rico, with additional notes on Elasmodontomys obliquus Anthony and Heteropsomys insulans Anthony. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 37(4):183-190.

Anthony, H. E. 1917b. Two new fossil bats from Porto Rico. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 37(19):565-568.

Anthony, H. E. 1918. The indigenous land mammals of Porto Rico, living and extinct. American Museum of Natural History, Memoirs 1(2):329-435.

Anthony, H. E. 1925. Mammals of Porto Rico, living and extinct—Chiroptera and Insectivora. New York Academy of Sciences, Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands IX:1–96.

Anthony, H. E. 1926. Mammals of Porto Rico, living and extinct—Rodentia and Edentata. New York Academy of Sciences, Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands IX:97–241.

Auffenberg, W. 1967. Notes on West Indian tortoises. Herpetologica 23(1):34-44.

Bandini, A. N., P. O. Baumgartner, K. Flores, P. Dumitrica, C. Hochard, G. M. Stampfli, and S.-J. Jackett. 2011. Aalenian to Cenomanian Radiolaria of the Bermeja Complex (Puerto Rico) and Pacific origin of radiolarites on the Caribbean Plate. Swiss Journal of Geociences 104:367-408.

Banerjee, A., K. Yemane, and A. Johnson. 2000. Foraminiferal biostratigraphy of late Oligocene-Miocene reefal carbonates in southwestern Puerto Rico. Micropaleontology 46(4):327-342.

Barbour, T. 1919. A new rock iguana from Puerto Rico. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 32:145-148.

Baron-Szabo, R. C. 2006. Corals of the K/T boundary: scleractinian corals of the suborders Dendrophylliina, Caryophylliina, Fungiina, Microsolenina, and Stylinina. Zootaxa 1952:1–244.

Bermúdez, P. J., and G. A. Seiglie. 1967. A new genus and species of foraminifer from the early Miocene of Puerto Rico. Tulane Studies in Geology 5:177–179.

Bermúdez, P. J., and G. A. Seiglie. 1970. Age, paleoecology, correlation and foraminifers of the uppermost Tertiary formation of northern Puerto Rico. Caribbean Journal of Science 10:17-33.

Blackburn, D. C., R. M. Keeffe, M. C. Vallejo-Pareja, and J. Velez-Juarbe. 2020. The earliest record of Caribbean frogs: a fossil coquí from Puerto Rico. Biology Letters 16:20190947.

Bonilla-Rodríguez, A. J., L. A. González, J. D. Walker, and H. Santos. 2014. Strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) stratigraphy from the Coalcomana-Caprinuloidea rudist assemblage in the Greater Antilles (Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Jamaica). Cretaceous Research 50:97-109.

Brochu, C. A., A. M. Nieves-Rivera, J. Velez-Juarbe, J. D. Daza-Vaca and H. Santos. 2007. Tertiary crocodylians from Puerto Rico: evidence for late Tertiary endemic crocodylians in the West Indies? Geobios 40:51-59.

Choate, J. R. and E. C. Birney. 1968. Sub-recent Insectivora and Chiroptera from Puerto Rico, with the description of a new bat of the genus Stenoderma. Journal of Mammalogy 49(3):400-412.

Cobban, W. A., and G. R. Scott. 1988. Occurrence of the early Cretaceous Ammonite Venezoliceras in Puerto Rico. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1837:D1–D2.

Coryell, H. N., and V. Ohlsen. 1929. Fossil corals of Porto Rico, with descriptions also of a few recent species. New York Academy of Sciences, Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands 3(3):169-236.

Cutress, B. M. 1980. Cretaceous and Tertiary Cidaroida (Echinodermata, Echinoidea) of the Caribbean area. Bulletin of American Paleontology 77:1-221.

Da Cunha, L., L. W. Viñola-López, R. D. E. MacPhee, L. Kerber, J. Vélez-Juarbe, P.-O. Antoine, M. Boivin, L. Hautier, R. Lebrun, L. Marivaux, and P.-H. Fabre. 2023. The inner ear of caviomorph rodents: phylogenetic implications and application to extinct West Indian taxa. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 30:1155–1176.

Domning, D. P. and O. A. Aguilera. 2008. Fossil Sirenia of the West Atlantic and Caribbean region. VIII. Nanosiren garciae, gen. et sp. nov. and Nanosiren sanchezi, sp. nov. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28(2):479-500.

Donovan, S. K., S. N. Nielsen, J. Velez-Juarbe, R. W. Portell. 2019. The isocrinine crinoid Isselicrinus Rovereto from the Paleogene of the Americas. Swiss Journal of Palaeontology 138:317-324.

Edinger, E. N., and M. J. Risk. 1994. Oligocene-Miocene extinction and geographic restriction of Caribbean corals: roles of turbidity, temperature, and nutrients. PALAIOS 9(6):576-598.

Flemming, C. and R. D. E. MacPhee. 1999. Redetermination of holotype of Isolobodon portoricensis (Rodentia, Capromyidae), with notes on recent mammalian extinctions in Puerto Rico. American Museum Novitates 3278:1-11.

Frank, E. F. and R. Benson. 1998. Vertebrate paleontology of Mona Island, Puerto Rico. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 60:103-106.

Frost, S. H., J. L. Harbour, D. K. Beach, M. J. Realini, and P. M. Harris. 1983. Oligocene reef track development, southwestern Puerto Rico. Sedimenta 9:1-144.

Gaffney, E. S., and R. C. Wood. 2002. Bairdemys, a new side-necked turtle (Pelomedusoides: Podocnemididae) from the Miocene of the Caribbean. American Museum Novitates 3359:1-28.

Galloway, J. J., and C. E. Hemingway. 1941. The Tertiary Foraminifera of Porto Rico. New York Academy of Sciences, Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands 3(4):275-491.

Gordon, W. A. 1960. The age of the middle Tertiary rocks of northwestern Puerto Rico. Second Caribbean Geological Conference, Transactions. 87–90.

Gordon, W. A. 1961. Distribution of Foraminifera in the middle Tertiary San Sebastián-Isabela section, Puerto Rico. Caribbean Journal of Sciences 1(2):48–58.

Gordon, W. A. 1961. Miocene Foraminifera from the Lajas Valley, Southwest Puerto Rico. Journal of Paleontology 35(3):610-619.

Gordon, W. A. 1961. Planktonic foraminifera and the correlation of the middle Tertiary rocks of Puerto Rico. Micropaleontology 7(4):451-460.

Gordon, W. A. 1963. Middle Tertiary echinoids of Puerto Rico. Journal of Paleontology 37(3):628-642.

Gordon, W. A. 1966. Two crab species from the middle Tertiary of Puerto Rico. Transactions of the Third Caribbean Geological Conference, Kingston, Jamaica, 2nd-11th April, 1962:184-186.

Graham, A. 1996. Paleobotany of Puerto Rico-from Arthur Hollick’s (1928) scientific survey paper to the present. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 776: 103-114.

Graham, A. and D. M. Jarzen. 1969. Studies in neotropical botany. I. The Oligocene communities of Puerto Rico. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 56:308-357.

Herrera, F., S. R. Manchester, J. Velez-Juarbe, and C. Jaramillo. 2014. Phytogeographic history of the Humiriaceae (Part 2). International Journal of Plant Sciences 175:828-840.

Hollick, A. 1924. A review of the fossil flora of the West Indies, with description of new species. Bulletin of the New York Botanical Garden 12:259–323.

Hollick, A. 1926. Fossil walnuts and lignite from Porto Rico. Journal of the New York Botanical Garden 27:223-227.

Hollick, A. 1928. Paleobotany of Porto Rico. Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands 7(3):177-393.

Howell, B. F. 1966. New Upper Cretaceous sponge from Puerto Rico. Journal of Paleontology 40(1):207-209.

Hubbard, B. 1920. Tertiary Mollusca from the Lares district, Porto Rico. New York Academy of Sciences, Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands 3(2):79-164.

Hubbard, B. 1923. The geology of the Lares District, Porto Rico. New York Academy of Science Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands, 2, 115 p.

Iturralde-Vinent, M. A. 2001. Geology of the amber-bearing deposits of the Greater Antilles. Caribbean Journal of Science 37(3-4):141-167.

Iturralde-Vinent, M. A. and E. Harstein. 1998. Miocene amber and lignitic deposits in Puerto Rico. Caribbean Journal of Science 34:308-312.

Jackson, R. T. 1922. Fossil echini of the West Indies. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 306:1-103.

Kauffman, E., and N. F. Sohl. 1974. Structure and evolution of Antillean Cretaceous rudist frameworks. Verhandlungen der naturforschenden Gessellchaft in Basel 84:399–467.

Krijnen, J. P. 1978. Pseudorbitoids from the Parguera Limestone, Puerto Rico, and from the Back Rio Grande Limestone, Jamaica, with remarks on the pseudorbitoidal evolutionary pattern. Geologie en Mijnbouw 57:233–242.

Luque, J., C. E. Schweitzer, W. Santana, R. W. Portell, F. J. Vega, A. A. Klompmaker. 2017. Checklist of fossil decapod crustaceans from Tropical America. Part I: Anomura and Brachyura. Nauplius 25:e2017025.

MacPhee, R.D.E. 2011. Basicranial morphology and relationships of Antillean Heptaxodontidae (Rodentia, Ctenohystrica, Caviomorpha). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 363:1-70.

MacPhee, R.D.E. and M.A. Iturralde-Vinent. 1995. Origin of the Greater Antillean land mammal fauna, 1: new Tertiary fossils from Cuba and Puerto Rico. American Museum Novitates 3141:1-31.

MacPhee, R. D. E. and A. R. Wyss. 1990. Oligo-Miocene vertebrates from Puerto Rico, with a catalog of localities. American Museum Novitates 2965:1-12.

Marivaux, L., J. Velez-Juarbe, and P.-O. Antoine. 2020. 3D models related to the publication: Early Oligocene chinchilloid caviomorphs from Puerto Rico and the initial rodent colonization of the West Indies: 3D models of Oligocene Puerto Rican chinchilloids. MorphoMuseum, Association Palaeovertebrata 6(4):e127. DOI: 10.18563/journal.m3.127

Marivaux, L., J. Velez-Juarbe, and P.O. Antoine. 2021. 3D models related to the publication: An unpredicted ancient colonization of the West Indies by North American rodents: dental evidence of a geomorph from the early Oligocene of Puerto Rico. MorphoMuseum, Association Palaeovertebrata 7:e128. DOI: 10.18563/journal.m3.128

Marivaux, L., L. W. Viñola-López, M. Boivin, L. Da Cunha, P.-H. Fabre, R. Joannes-Boyau, G. Maincent, P. Münch, N. S. Stutz, J. Vélez-Juarbe, and P.-O. Antoine. 2022. Incisor enamel microstructure of West Indian caviomorph hystricognathous rodents (Octodontoidea and Chinchilloidea). Journal of Mammalian Evolution. DOI: 10.1007/s10914-022-09631-7

Marivaux, L., J. Velez-Juarbe, G. Merzeraud, F. Pujos, L. W. Viñola López, M. Boivin, H. Santos-Mercado, E. J. Cruz, A. Grajales, J. Padilla, K. I. Vélez-Rosado, M. Philippon, J.-L. Léticée, P. Münch, and P.-O. Antoine. 2020. Early Oligocene chinchilloid caviomorphs from Puerto Rico and the initial colonization of the West Indies. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 287:20192806.

Marivaux, L., J. Velez-Juarbe, L. W. Viñola López, P.-H. Fabre, F. Pujos, H. Santos-Mercado, E. J. Cruz, A. Grajales Pérez, J. Padilla, K. I. Vélez-Rosado, J.-J. Cornée, M. Philippon, P. Münch, and P.-O. Antoine. 2021. An unpredicted ancient colonization of the West Indies by North American rodents: dental evidence of a geomorph from the early Oligocene of Puerto Rico. Papers in Palaeontology 1–19. DOI: 10.1002/spp2.1388

Matthew, W. D. 1916. New sirenian from the Tertiary of Porto Rico. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 27:23-29.

Matthew, W. D. 1918. Affinities and origin of the Antillean mammals. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 29:657-666.

Matthew, W. D. 1919. Recent discoveries of fossil vertebrates in the West Indies and their bearing on the origin of the Antillean Fauna. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 58:161-181.

Mattson, P. H., and E. A. Pessagno, Jr. 1979. Jurassic and Early Cretaceous radiolarians in Puerto Rican ophiolite—Tectonic implications. Geology 7:440–444.

Maury, C. J. 1920. Tertiary Mollusca from Porto Rico and their zonal relations. New York Academy of Sciences, Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands 3(1):1-77.

McDowell, S. B. 1958. The Greater Antillean insectivores. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 115:113-214.

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McFarlane, D. A. 1999. Late Quaternary fossil mammals and last occurrence dates from caves at Barahona, Puerto Rico. Caribbean Journal of Science 35(3-4):238-248.

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