A HOLOCENE ASSEMBLAGE OF SMALL VERTEBRATES FROM ALCOBACA SITE, PERNAMBUCO STATE, BRAZIL

The record of small vertebrates from the Holocene of northeast of Brazil is very scarce, being restricted to archaeological studies. The studied material consists of cranial and mandibular fragments of lizards, marsupials, and caviomorph rodents excavated from Alcobaca site, Buique County, Pernambuco State. The site has radiocarbon dates ranging from 4,851 +/- 30 years BP to 888 +/- 25 years BP. Kerodon rupestris (Wied, 1820), Galea sp. (Caviidae), Thrichomys sp., Phyllomys sp. (Echimyidae), Monodelphis sp. (Didelphidae), Tropidurus sp. (Tropiduridae), Tupinambis sp., and Ameiva sp. (Teiidae) were recorded. The Phyllomys sp. remains constitute the first record of this taxon for the Quaternary of northeastern Brazil. The fauna suggests a paleoenvironment very similar to the current one, characterized as brejo de altitude.