Archaeological caves and rockshelters excavations and a recent survey of natural caves provided four Pleistocene land vertebrate faunal settlements on the carbonate islands from the Guadeloupean Archipelago. These sites are thought to be Upper Pleistocene in age. Three of them are caves from the last-interglacial shore on the southern coast of Marie-Galante. Among them, the Blanchard Cave preserves more than two meters of stratified fossiliferous deposits. The last one is an underground tunnel inland on Grande-Terre. Faunal assemblages are dominated by Chiroptera, Ophidia, Lacertilia and Lissamphibia. Bird bones and, in one case, marine mammals tooth fragments are also found. Accumulations are mainly due to owl pellets. Preliminary taphonomic study indicates that both diurnal and nocturnal raptor, contribute to sites formation. Bones determination sketches the outlines of the insular animal communities before any human occupation of the Guadeloupean Islands. It also gives information on the vertebrate biodiversity evolution and on the faunal replacement. Firstly, our results attest to the antiquity of the natural vertebrate fauna on the islands. Secondly, locally extinct species identification contributes to improve the biogeography knowledge of the West Indies. Thirdly, fossil faunal evolution documented by Blanchard Cave stratigraphy compared to present-day Guadeloupean fauna allow to tackle the issue of ecosystems response to environmental changes during the last glacial period.
