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Pleistocene Survivors And Holocene Extinctions: The Giant Rats From Liang Bua (Flores, Indonesia), Elisa Locatelli, Rokhus Awe Due, Gerrit D. Van Den Bergh, Lars W. Van Den Hoek Ostende

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Excavations at Liang Bua Cave yielded a large amount of micromammal remains, the major part of which are murids, and some can be referred to three different species of giant rats. Whilst Papagomys armandvillei is still living on Flores, the other two species, Papagomys theodorverhoeveni and Spelaeomys florensis went extinct late during the Holocene. In this paper, the fossil record of these species at Liang Bua Cave is discussed. These giant murids are a clear example of insular gigantism, and can be seen as end members of the Island Rule. Opposition against the general applicability of this 'rule' is mainly …