A New Eastern Limit of the Pacific Flying Fox, Pteropus tonganus (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae), in Prehistoric Polynesia: A Case of Possible Human Transport and Extirpation

Five bones, representing one adult of the Pacific Flying Fox, Pteropus tonganus, were recovered from an archaeological site on Rurutu (151 degree 21' W, 22 degree 27' S), Austral Islands, French Polynesia, making this the most eastern extension of the species. For the first time, flying fo...

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Published inPacific science Vol. 60; no. 3; pp. 403 - 411
Main Authors Weisler, Marshall I, Bollt, Robert, Findlater, Amy
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published University of Hawai'i Press 01.07.2006
Subjects
Chiroptera
Pteropodidae
Pteropus
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Summary:Five bones, representing one adult of the Pacific Flying Fox, Pteropus tonganus, were recovered from an archaeological site on Rurutu (151 degree 21' W, 22 degree 27' S), Austral Islands, French Polynesia, making this the most eastern extension of the species. For the first time, flying fox bones from cultural deposits were directly dated by accelerator mass spectrometry, yielding an age of death between A.D. 1064 and 1155. Their stratigraphic position in an Archaic period archaeological site and the absence of bones in the late prehistoric to historic layers point to extirpation of the species. No flying fox bones were found in pre-human deposits and human transport of the species cannot be ruled out.
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ISSN:0030-8870
1534-6188
1534-6188
DOI:10.1353/psc.2006.0020