Distribution and Habitat
The Polynesian rat is widespread throughout the Pacific and Southeast Asia. It cannot swim over long distances, so is therefore considered to be a significant marker of the human migrations across the Pacific, as the Polynesians accidentally or deliberately introduced it to the islands they settled. The species has been implicated in many of the extinctions that occurred in the Pacific amongst the native birds and insects; these species had evolved in the absence of mammals and were unable to cope with the predation pressure posed by the rat. This rat also may have played a role in the complete deforestation of Easter Island by eating the nuts of the local palm tree, thus preventing regrowth of the forest.
Although remains of the Polynesian rat in New Zealand were dated to over 2000 years old during the 1990s, which was much earlier than the accepted dates for Polynesian migrations to New Zealand, this finding has been overturned by later research showing the rat was introduced to both of the country's main islands around 1280 AD.
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