Amazonia 1492: Pristine Forest Or Cultural Parkland?
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R E P O R T S tant role in locomotor propulsion than the fore- Ϫ1.678 ϩ 2.518 (1.80618), W ϭ 741.1; anteropos- phylogeny place Lagostomus together with Chin- limbs, which were probably important in food terior distal humerus diameter (APH): log W ϭ chilla (22). Ϫ1.467 ϩ 2.484 (1.6532), W ϭ 436.1 kg. 25. M. S. Springer et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 98, manipulation. Because of this, the body mass 17. A. R. Biknevicius, J. Mammal. 74, 95 (1993). 6241 (2001). estimation based on the femur is more reliable: 18. The humerus/femur length ratio (H/F) and the (humer- 26. We thank J. Bocquentin, A. Ranci, A. Rinco´n, J. Reyes, P. pattersoni probably weighed ϳ700 kg. With us ϩ radius)/(femur ϩ tibia) length ratio [(H ϩ R)/(F ϩ D. Rodrigues de Aguilera, and R. S´anchez for help with Phoberomys, the size range of the order is in- T )] in P. pattersoni (0.76 and 0.78, respectively) are fieldwork; J. Reyes and E. Weston for laboratory work; average compared with those of other caviomorphs. For E. Weston and three anonymous reviewers for com- creased and Rodentia becomes one of the mam- a sample of 17 extant caviomorphs, the mean values Ϯ ments on the manuscript; O. Aguilera Jr. for assist- malian orders with the widest size variation, SD were H/F ϭ 0.80 Ϯ 0.08 and (H ϩ R)/(F ϩ T ) ϭ ance with digital imaging; S. Melendrez for recon- second only to the Diprotodontia (kangaroos, 0.74 Ϯ 0.09. In the sample, there are no marked trends struction of the skeleton of Phoberomys in Fig. 2; D. associated with growth or phylogeny (21). On the other Mo¨rike (Stuttgart) and E. Weber ( Tu¨bingen) for ac- koalas, wombats, and possums) (fig. S1). hand, the ratios between femur versus humerus cross- cess to collections; and J. Bocquentin and A. Ranci for The fossil record of Caviomorpha is exten- sectional diameters (APF/APH) (15) show that the hind- preliminary work on the identification of the giant sive, with 140 fossil genera recognized in a limbs of P. pattersoni are robust. APF/APH is 1.42, rodent. Work in Venezuela by M.R.S.-V. was partially whereas the average Ϯ SD for a sample of 19 cavi- supported by the National Geographic Society and recent review (8), but no form competes with omorph species (21) is 1.27 Ϯ 0.18. Robust hindlimbs in the University of Tu¨bingen. The Smithsonian Tropical Phoberomys in terms of size. Artigasia magna comparison to forelimbs characterizes also the clade Research Institute and the Universidad Nacional Ex- from the upper Pliocene of Uruguay is reported composed of Dinomys, Chinchilla, and Lagostomus perimental Francisco de Miranda (UNEFM) supported (mean Ϯ SD 1.40 Ϯ 0.26), the closest relatives to the field and laboratory work of O.A. O.A. is a Re- to be gigantic, but its lower teeth are only Phoberomys among extant caviomorphs. search Associate of the Smithsonian Tropical Re- ϳ60% the size of those of P. pattersoni (19). 19. J. C. Francis, A. Mones, Kraglieviana 1, 89 (1966). search Institute. Artigasia, like most fossil rodents, is known 20. R. C. Wood, Breviora 436, 1 (1976). based only on dental and mandibular parts. 21. M. R. S´anchez-Villagra, O. Aguilera, I. Horovitz, un- Supporting Online Material published data. www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/301/5640/1708/ The paleoenvironment in which P. patter- 22. R. M. Nowak, Walker’s Mammals of the World (John DC1 soni was found and the associated fauna indi- Hopkins Univ. Press, Baltimore, ed. 6, 1999). SOM Text cate that this rodent was either semiaquatic or 23. D. Huchon, J. P. Douzery, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 20, Fig. S1 foraged in or near water, as capybaras do. P. 238 (2001). Tables S1 to S3 24. We added Lagostomus to the tree to increase the References pattersoni had a deep and massive horizontal relevant sampling in our scaffold analysis. All rel- ramus of the mandible, correlated with a high evant treatments of caviomorph taxonomy and 6 May 2003; accepted 6 August 2003 degree of hypsodonty. Phoberomys clearly had an abrasive diet, perhaps consisting of sea- grasses. Potential predators could have been the Amazonia 1492: Pristine Forest many crocodiles reported from Urumaco, in- cluding some of the largest forms that ever or Cultural Parkland? existed, such as Purussaurus spp. Contempo- raries included Stupendemys geographicus, the Michael J. Heckenberger,1* Afukaka Kuikuro,4 world’s largest turtle (20). Urissapa´ Tabata Kuikuro,4 J. Christian Russell,2 Morgan Schmidt,3 Carlos Fausto,5 Bruna Franchetto5 References and Notes 1. D. Starck, Lehrbuch der Speziellen Zoologie. Wirbelt- Archaeology and indigenous history of Native Amazonian peoples in the Upper iere. Teil 5: Sa¨ugetiere (Gustav Fischer Verlag, Jena, Germany, 1995). Xingu region of Brazil reveal unexpectedly complex regional settlement pat- 2. J. J. Flynn, A. R. Wyss, Trends Ecol. Evol. 13, 449 terns and large-scale transformations of local landscapes over the past mil- (1998). lennium. Mapping and excavation of archaeological structures document pro- 3. R. F. Kay, R. H. Madden, R. L. Cifelli, J. J. Flynn, Eds., Vertebrate Paleontology in the Neotropics. The Mio- nounced human-induced alteration of the forest cover, particularly in relation cene Fauna of La Venta, Colombia (Smithsonian In- to large, dense late-prehistoric settlements (circa 1200 to 1600 A.D.). The stitution, Washington, DC, 1997). findings contribute to debates on human carrying capacity, population size and 4. Le´xico Estratigra´fico de Venezuela (Ministerio de En- settlement patterns, anthropogenic impacts on the environment, and the im- ergı´a y Minas, Boletı´n de Geologı´a, Caracas, ed. 3, 1997). portance of indigenous knowledge, as well as contributing to the pride of place 5. A. Mones, Ameghiniana 17, 277 (1980). of the native peoples in this part of the Amazon. 6. A. Mones, Comun. Paleontol. Mus. Hist. Nat. Montev. 2, 1 (1997). Was the Amazon a natural forest in 1492, garding pre-Columbian cultural and ecologi- 7. F. R. Negri, J. Ferigolo, Bolet. Mus. Pare. Emı´lio Goeldi 11, 1 (1999). sparsely populated and essentially pristine, as cal variation in the region remain unresolved 8. M. C. McKenna, S. K. Bell, Classification of Mammals has been traditionally thought? Or, instead, due to a lack of well-documented case studies Above the Species Level (Columbia Univ. Press, New were parts of it densely settled and better (7, 8). Here, we present clear evidence of York, 1997). 9. S. O. Landry, Univ. Calif. Pub. Zool. 56, 1 (1957). viewed as cultural forests, including large large, regional social formations [circa (c.) 10. M. G. Vucetich, D. H. Verzi, J.-L. Hartenberger, C. R. agricultural areas, open parklands, and work- 1250 to 1600 A.D.] and their substantial in- Acad. Sci. Ser. II Sci. Terre Planetes 329, 763 (1999). ing forests associated with large, regional fluence on the landscape, where they have 11. L. Kraglievich, An. Soc. Cient. Argent. 114, 155 (1932). polities (1–3). Despite growing popularity for altered much of the local forest cover. Spe- 12. C. de Paula Couto, Tratado de Paleomastozoologia the latter view (4–6), entrenched debates re- cifically, archaeological research in the Up- (Academia Brasileira de Ciencias, Rı´o de Janeiro, per Xingu (Mato Grosso, Brazil), including 1979). 13. B. Demes, W. L. Jungers, Folia Primatol. 52, 58 1Department of Anthropology, 2Land-Use and En- detailed mapping and excavations of exten- (1989). vironmental Change Institute, 3Department of Ge- sive earthen features (such as moats, roads, 14. J. Bertram, A. A. Biewener, J. Morphol. 204, 157 ography, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL and bridges) in and around ancient settle- (1990). 32611, USA. 4Associa¸ca˜o Ind´ıgena Kuikuro do Alto ments, reveals unexpectedly complex region- 15. A. R. Biknevicius , D. A. McFarlane, R. D. E. MacPhee, Xingu, Parque Ind´ıgena do Xingu, Mato Grosso, al settlement patterns that created areas of Am. Mus. Novit. 3079, 1 (1993). Brazil. 5Department of Anthropology, Museu Nacio- 16. Predictive equations for body size (15): log W ϭ log nal, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Quinta acute forest alteration. a ϩ b (log AP), where W is body mass (in kilograms), da Boa Vista, Rio de Janeiro 20940 – 040, Brazil. The Upper Xingu is unique in the south- log a is intercept, b is slope, and AP is the antero- posterior diameter of the bone examined. Anteropos- *To whom correspondence should be addressed. E- ern peripheries of the Amazon as the larg- terior proximal femur diameter (APF): log W ϭ mail: [email protected]fl.edu est contiguous tract of tropical forest still 1710 19 SEPTEMBER 2003 VOL 301 SCIENCE www.sciencemag.org R E P O R T S under indigenous resource management elaborate regional plan (14). The earth- tlements. In the case of the Kuhikugu (X11) [Parque Ind´ıgena do Xingu (PIX)]. It re- works include (i) excavated ditches in and cluster, the largest residential center is the mains little affected by 20th century mech- around ancient settlements (up to 2.5 km hub (Fig. 3B). The primary nodes of each anized development (Fig. 1). The Upper long and 5 m deep); (ii) linear mounds or cluster are also linked by roads to smaller Xingu is a long-standing case study of in- “curbs” positioned at the margins of major plaza settlements (fig. S1). On the basis of digenous Amazonian agriculture and ecol- roads and circular plazas (averaging about artifact and dark-earth distributions, it has ogy (9, 10) and one of the few places where 0.5 to 1.0 m in height); and (iii) a variety of been estimated that large sites, such as X6 contemporary observations about indige- wetland features, such as bridges, artificial and X11, had 15 to 25 ha of residential nous agriculture, land use, and settlement river obstructions and ponds, raised cause- space, medium sites (X17, X18, X22) had 5 pattern can be systematically linked with ways, canals, and other structures, many of to 10 ha, and small sites had 2 to 5 ha (14).