. Atoll research bulletin. Coral reefs and islands; Marine biology; Marine sciences. cave that had been located by Crombie in 1971 during his herpetological reconnaissance of the Cockpits (Crombie, 1977, 1986). Unlike many large caves in Jamaica that lost their paleontological potential to phosphate or bauxite mining during and since WWII, the cave found by Crombie was undisturbed. Known as Marta Tick Cave, it is isolated deep in the forest amid steep, inhospitable terrain approximately 8 km WNW of Quick- step. The cave is reached by an obscure 2 km trail that begins on the Cockpit Road 6 km n
. Atoll research bulletin. Coral reefs and islands; Marine biology; Marine sciences. cave that had been located by Crombie in 1971 during his herpetological reconnaissance of the Cockpits (Crombie, 1977, 1986). Unlike many large caves in Jamaica that lost their paleontological potential to phosphate or bauxite mining during and since WWII, the cave found by Crombie was undisturbed. Known as Marta Tick Cave, it is isolated deep in the forest amid steep, inhospitable terrain approximately 8 km WNW of Quick- step. The cave is reached by an obscure 2 km trail that begins on the Cockpit Road 6 km north of Quickstep. Because daily trips to and from the village were not feasible, we established camp in the cave itself. For three weeks we excavated sediment within the cave, while for the entire four weeks of our stay we also pursued our second goal, to make observations and collections of the plants and animals of the surrounding forest. Such a survey would allow interpretation of the fossil fauna as well as document the current status of the local biota. Specimens of fossil and living vertebrates were deposited in the collections of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, and the San Diego Natural History Museum. Plant specimens were deposited in the herbaria of the University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica, and the Department of Biological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara. Considering that very few areas of undisturbed forest remain in Jamaica, or elsewhere in the Caribbean, our inventory of this relatively undisturbed portion of the Cockpits should be a reliable baseline for future comparisons. As seems to be the case for Amazonia (Roberts, 1988), the natural areas that are not saved in Jamaica within the next decade may be so damaged by the turn of the century that many species will be lost. With this in mind, we hope that the results of our survey of the very rich biota of the Cockpits will contribute to its preserva- ti
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