centered on 400,000 yr ago, during which sea level
rose to .+ 20 m, reducing Bermuda to rocky shoals
and small islets (Hearty et al.; 1999, Olson and Hearty,
2003). A few fossil vertebrates exist from early MIS 11
dune and beach deposits near sea level and from
deposits of the maximum transgression. The rest of
Bermuda’s vertebrate record is derived from deposits
of the subsequent glacial/interglacial oscillations. Sea
level during interglacial MIS 7 was not high enough
for extensive carbonate deposition (Hearty, 2002) and
probably did not have much of an impact on the
terrestrial biota, whereas interglacials MIS 9, 5e, and
the current MIS 1, are coincident with extinction
events when some species disappeared from the
island through natural causes.