Ancient tortoise hunting in the southwest Pacific

• DOI: 10.1038/srep38317
• Publication Date: 2016-12-06T11:32:03Z
• Authors: Stuart Hawkins; Trevor H. Worthy; Stuart Bedford; Matthew Spriggs; Geoffrey Clark; Geoff Irwin; Simon Best; Patrick Kirch
• Keywords: Tortoise

We report the unprecedented Lapita exploitation and subsequent extinction of large megafauna tortoises (?Meiolania damelipi) on tropical islands during late Holocene over a 281,000 km2 region southwest Pacific spanning from Vanuatu archipelago to Viti Levu in Fiji. Zooarchaeological analyses have identified seven early archaeological sites with remains this distinctive hornless tortoise, unlike Gondwanan horned meiolaniid radiation southwest. These tortoise radiations may contributed rapid dispersal mobile Neolithic hunters throughout Melanesia western Polynesia. Subsequent extinctions these terrestrial herbivorous are likely led significant changes ecosystems that help explain current patterns Post-Lapita contexts region.