News and Views Preliminary notes on a newly discovered skull of the extinct monkey Antillothrix from Hispaniola and the origin of the Greater Antillean monkeys Richard F. Kay a, * , Kevin D. Hunt b , Charles D. Beeker b, c , Geoffrey W. Conrad b, d , Claudia C. Johnson e , Jessica Keller c a Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA b Department of Anthropology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405-7100, USA c Office of Underwater Science, School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA d William Hammond Mathers Museum, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47408-3812, USA e Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405-1405, USA article info Article history: Received 26 April 2010 Accepted 4 September 2010 Keywords: Platyrrhini Anthropoidea West Indies Primate evolution Paleontology Introduction In July 2009, a team from Indiana University discovered a spec- tacularly preserved cranium of an extinct platyrrhine primate of middle Holocene age in the Padre Nuestro underwater cavern complex, southeastern Dominican Republic, Hispaniola (Fig. 1). The skull (specimen number PNE-PNP-PN-09-01, PN-09-01 1 for short; Fig. 2) is referred to Antillothrix bernensis, and until recently was known only from a few jaw fragments and teeth. Here, we place the discovery on record, briefly describe the pertinent infor- mation about the cavern and its associations, and offer some comments on its phylogenetic affiliations and adaptations. PN-09- 01 was recovered from the Padre Nuestro cavern, part of an inter- connected cave complex accessible through several openings of which Padre Nuestro is one (Conrad et al., 2001; Beeker et al., 2002). The cavern entrance is <10 m above sea level. Explored parts are filled with fresh water, but travertine formations are present that only form in dry conditions. The fossil material was found <50 m from the cavern entrance at water depths of 5e10 m. Also recovered were fragments of carbonized wood, flaked stone tools, and thousands of bones of extinct sloths, caviomorph rodents, soricomorphs, fish, birds, reptiles, and terrestrial and nearshore marine gastropods. Several lines of evidence suggest that this material is no younger than mid-Holocene. First, a working hypothesis is that the cave drownede 6,500 years BP when worldwide sea levels rose to within 3 m of current levels, having risen e 22 m in the preceding 1500 years (Fleming et al., 1998). Curtis et al. (2001) suggest that as the Holocene progressed, water levels in such caves responded to global sea level changes, rather than merely to local hydrologic changes. Second, pre-ceramic “Casimiroid” lithics also occur deep in the cave, but ceramics occur only at the very front in <1 m of water. The earliest reported radiometrically dated human occupation of His- paniola of the “Casimiroid” type is 5780e6180 yrs BP (Veloz Maggiolo and Vega, 1982; Moore, 1991; Wilson et al., 1998; MacPhee et al., 2007; Wilson, 2007). Third, while PN-09-01 is undated, remains of the extinct sloths referable to Acratocnus and Parocnus (McDonald, personal communication; Keller, 2009) were found in close association. The only dated occurrence of these taxa in Hispaniola is a date for Parocnus at Trouing Gallery that is greater than 14,200 years BP (Steadman et al., 2005). Lastly, the type specimen of Antillothrix bernensis (CENDIA-1 1 ) (Rímoli, 1977) was dated at 3,850 Æ 135 BP. This date should be considered a minimum age because the dated plant material came from a stratigraphic level 10e20 cm above the primate and other vertebrate remains and is not associated with human activities (Rímoli, 1977). The Skull PN-09-01 (Fig. 2) is the best preserved primate cranium and only the third skull of any primate found in the Greater Antilles. A skull of Paralouatta (see below) from Cuba is more fragmentary. The fossil record of primates from the island of Hispaniola is particularly poor. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: richard.kay@duke.edu (R.F. Kay). 1 Abreviations: PNE-PNP: Parque Nacional Del Este-Padre Nuestro Park. CENDIA: Centro Dominicano de investigaciones Anthropológicas, UASD; MHD: Museo del Hombre Dominicano. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Human Evolution journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jhevol 0047-2484/$ e see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.09.003 Journal of Human Evolution 60 (2011) 124e128