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Posted on 11/11/2025 3:16:54 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Phys.org reports that Polynesian rats (Rattus exulans) may have played a larger role in the deforestation of Rapa Nui than previously thought. Some 15 million Rapa Nui palm trees (Paschalococos disperta) are estimated to have covered Easter Island before the arrival of Polynesians around A.D. 1200. When Europeans arrived in 1722, they observed just a few isolated trees, grasses, and shrubs. Terry Hunt of the University of Arizona and Carl Lipo of the University of Birmingham developed an ecological model of the island and found that a single pair of rats, feasting on nutritious palm nuts, could grow into a population of more than 11 million in less than 50 years. "Rats reached every corner of the island within decades of human arrival, chewing through palm seeds and stopping the next generation of trees before they could even sprout. People cleared land for gardens near the coast, but the rats preceded them in number and spread over the island," Hunt said. To read about another discovery on Easter Island, go to "Around the World: Chile."
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.org ...
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Palm seed chewed by a ratSebastian Englert Museum/Hunt and Lipo 2025, Journal of Archaeological Science
Interesting.
I always heard it was the deforestation...environmental catastrophe.
Invasive species could certainly do it. Sounds like Islamists in the US
Well, just look at the ruin the Rat Party has done to the U.S.
Nice to see the rats came from Polynesia and weren't some of those special "colonized" rats.
Didn’t we already know this?
“Come out and take it, you dirty, yellow-bellied rat, or I’ll give it to you through the door!” said Jimmy Ratney, then tap dancing into, “You’re A Grand Old Rodent”.
Deforestation was apparently a joint effort of the Rapa Nui-ans and the rats they rode in with. There’s a bunch of topics in the RN/EI keywords, and I’ve got it on deck, but there’s a good chance it’ll be deleted before a minute goes by.
"Navel of the world, ma!"
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