RT Journal Article
T1 A 14C dating of Canariomys bravoi (Mammalia Rodentia), the extinct giant rat from tenerife (Canary islands, Spain), and the recent history of the endemic mammals in the archipelago
A1 Michaux, J.
A1 López Martínez, María Nieves
A1 Hernández Pacheco, J.J.
AB The endemic land mammals of the Canarian archipelago include five species: three rodents now extinct and two living shrews. We discuss their chronological distribution, the date, and the causes of their extinction. For the first time a 14C date is obtained for Canariomys bravoi, the giant rat of Tenerife: 12,230 ± 140 years BP. It confirms the presence of the endemic rat before man settled in Tenerife. It is not definitively established that Canariomys bravoi was contemporaneous with man. The two other endemic rodents, Canariomys tamarani from Gran Canaria and Malpaisomys insularis from Fuerteventura, got extinct after man settled on the islands. Weight estimations of the extinct rodents have been used in order to test the hypothesis of a possible competition with the introduced mammals. If competition is difficult to support, the size of the giant rats makes them good prey for hunting either by man or by feral dogs.
PB Masson
SN 0240-8759
YR 1996
FD 1996
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/118681
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/118681
LA eng
DS Docta Complutense
RD 8 abr 2025