 Based on fossil species assemblages it is believed that the environment on the Bahamas was much less forested and a dry savannah during the glacial maxim some 18,000 years ago when the sea level was some 120m lower than it is today.Paleoclimatic and genetic data have been used to propose that "Pinus caribaea" ultimately originated in Central America.According to chloroplast genetic data, "Pinus caribaea" lineages colonized the Caribbean islands from populations in Central America at least twice (one leading to Cuban populations and another leading to the populations on the Bahamas).