Verhoeven’s giant rat of Flores (Papagomys theodorverhoeveni, Muridae) extinct after all?

Zijlstra, Jelle S.; Ostende, Lars W. van den Hoek

doi:10.1163/18759866-07701004

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Parts of the vertebrate collection are under study in the Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum Naturalis, Leiden, and papers have appeared on the Stegodon remains (Van den Bergh et al. , 2008) and the fossil insectivores (Van den Hoek Ostende, van den Berg & Due, 2007; Zijlstra, Van den Hoek Ostende & Due, 2008).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new species of giant marabou stork (Aves: Ciconiiformes) from the Pleistocene of Liang Bua, Flores (Indonesia)

Meijer

Due

2010

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

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Fossils of the genus Leptoptilos from the Pleistocene of Liang Bua, Flores, Indonesia, belong to a new species of giant marabou stork, Leptoptilos robustus sp. nov. This giant bird, estimated at 1.80 m in length, was similar in dimensions to extant Leptoptilos dubius, except for the tibiotarsus. The thick cortical bone wall of the tibiotarsus and the estimated weight of 16 kg imply a reduced flight capability. Osteological and biometric characters suggest that L. robustus is most closely related to L. dubius. An evolutionary lineage is proposed in which a volant L. dubius-like ancestor in the Middle Pleistocene evolved into the Late Pleistocene L. robustus on Flores, with a concomitant reduction of the ability to fly and an increase in body size. The large body size and terrestrial lifestyle of L. robustus are responses to an unbalanced, insular environment with abundant prey items and a lack of mammalian carnivores, and emphasize the extraordinary nature of the Homo floresiensis fauna.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new species of giant marabou stork (Aves: Ciconiiformes) from the Pleistocene of Liang Bua, Flores (Indonesia)

Meijer

Due

2010

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

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“…Moreover, the two species show a strong overlap in size. It is noteworthy that the metrical variation of both species is very large, a phenomenon which is also noted for the endemic small-sized murid Rattus hainaldi (Locatelli 2010), but certainly also holds true for the species of Papagomys (Zijlstra et al 2008). The large overall size variation is not due to a change in size over time.…”

Section: Remarks On the Endemic Middle-sized Murids Of Liang Buamentioning

confidence: 66%

“…Assessing the original fauna from the area is not a simple matter of eliminating the introduced species from the faunal lists, because the introduction of new murine species must have had an effect on the original fauna. In the case of Flores, two species of giant rats became extinct during the Holocene (Musser 1981;Zijlstra et al 2008), and Komodomys rintjanus was extirpated on the island itself, only to survive on smaller, neighbouring islands.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Middle-sized murids from Liang Bua (Flores, Indonesia): insular endemics, human introductions and palaeoenvironment

Locatelli

Due

Jatmiko

et al. 2015

Palaeobio Palaeoenv

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The Liang Bua Cave (Flores, Indonesia) has yielded numerous fossils of murids from the Late Pleistocene and Holocene, including giant rats. In this study, we describe the middle-sized forms, that is, murids of about the same size as Rattus rattus. Two endemic species were found at Liang Bua, Komodomys rintjanus and Paulamys naso, which were present since the oldest phases of the occupation of the cave. Both have survived until the present day and currently occupy contrasting habitats. Two commensal species, presumably R. rattus and R. argentiventer, reached the island only in the youngest phases. Based on the ecological preferences of recent Komodomys and Paulamys, it appears that the arrival of Neolithic Man and commensal rats coincides with a period of relative drought.

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“…In addition, there is an important difference between the Liang Bua fauna, which was found in cave deposits, and the faunas from older localities with quite different environments of deposits and taphonomy. This is immediately clear from the huge amounts of micromammal and bird remains found in the cave (Zijlstra et al. , 2008; Meijer & Due, 2010).…”

Section: The Flores Vertebrate Faunasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Three species of these giant rats are found at Liang Bua. The largest, Papagomys armandvillei , is the only extant species of that genus (Nowak, 1991; Zijlstra et al. , 2008).…”

Section: Insular Adaptations In the Flores Faunamentioning

confidence: 99%

The fellowship of the hobbit: the fauna surroundingHomo floresiensis

Meijer

Ostende

Bergh

et al. 2010

Journal of Biogeography

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The Late Pleistocene Flores fauna shows a pattern observed on many other islands. It is neither aberrant nor exclusive, but the result of non‐random selective forces acting upon an impoverished and disharmonic insular fauna. By comparing the Flores vertebrate fauna with other fossil insular biotas, it is apparent that the evolution of Homo floresiensis is part of a general pattern affecting all the inhabitants of Pleistocene Flores. Vertebrate evolution on Flores appears to have been characterized by phylogenetic continuity, low species richness and a disharmonic fauna. All three aspects stem from the isolated position of the island and have resulted in the distinct morphological characteristics of the Flores fauna. Evidence reviewed herein shows that features exhibited by H. floresiensis, such as small stature, a small brain, relatively long arms, robust lower limbs and long feet, are not unique, but are shared by other insular taxa. Therefore, the evolution of H. floresiensis can be explained by existing models of insular evolution and followed evolutionary pathways similar to those of the other terrestrial vertebrates inhabiting Pleistocene Flores.

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Verhoeven’s giant rat of Flores (Papagomys theodorverhoeveni, Muridae) extinct after all?

Abstract: Recently Papagomys theodorverhoeveni was reported to be still extant on the basis of a single museum specimen. Based on comparison with extensive zooarchaeological material from Liang Bua, the identifi cation of this specimen is refuted.

Cited by 9 publications

References 2 publications

A new species of giant marabou stork (Aves: Ciconiiformes) from the Pleistocene of Liang Bua, Flores (Indonesia)

A new species of giant marabou stork (Aves: Ciconiiformes) from the Pleistocene of Liang Bua, Flores (Indonesia)

Middle-sized murids from Liang Bua (Flores, Indonesia): insular endemics, human introductions and palaeoenvironment

The fellowship of the hobbit: the fauna surroundingHomo floresiensis

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