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Chronology and causes of the extinction of the Lava Mouse, Malpaisomys insularis (Rodentia: Muridae) from the Canary Islands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Juan Carlos Rando ,
Josep Antoni Alcover ,
Juan Francisco Navarro ,
Francisco García-Talavera ,
Rainer Hutterer  and
Jacques Michaux
Juan Carlos Rando
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biología Animal (UDI Zoología), Universidad de La Laguna, E-38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Josep Antoni Alcover*
Affiliation:
Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avançats (CSIC-UIB), Ctra. Valldemossa km 7.5, 07122 Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain Department of Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA
Juan Francisco Navarro
Affiliation:
Departamento de Prehistoria, Antropología e Historia Antigua, Universidad de La Laguna, Campus de Guajara, 38071 La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Francisco García-Talavera
Affiliation:
Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Tenerife, 38080 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Rainer Hutterer
Affiliation:
Department of Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 162, 53115, Bonn, Germany
Jacques Michaux
Affiliation:
EPHE, ISEM, UMR 5554 CNRS Université Montpellier II, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
*
*Corresponding author. Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avançats (CSIC-UIB), Ctra. Valldemossa km 7.5, E-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain. Fax: +34 971172300. E-mail addresses:jcrando@ull.es (J.C. Rando), vieapba@uib.es (J.A. Alcover), jnavarro@ull.es (J.F. Navarro), fgarcia@museosdetenerife.org (F. García-Talavera), r.hutterer.zfmk@uni-bonn.de (R. Hutterer), michaux@isem.univ-montp2.fr (J. Michaux).
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Abstract

Understanding late Holocene extinctions on islands requires accurate chronologies for all relevant events, including multiple colonisations by humans and the introduction of alien species. The most widely held hypothesis on the causes of Holocene island vertebrate extinctions incorporates human impacts, although climatic-related hypotheses cannot be excluded. Both hypotheses have been suggested to account for the extinction of the endemic Lava Mouse, Malpaisomys insularis from the Canary Islands. Here we present the first accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) 14C ages from collagen of M. insularis bones from ancient owl pellets collected at Fuerteventura (Canary Islands, eastern Atlantic Ocean). These new dates contribute to an understanding of the extinction of this species. We are able to exclude climatic causes, predation by invasive species, and competition with the house mouse, Mus musculus. The arrival of Europeans in the Canary Islands correlates with the extinction of Malpaisomys. The introduction of rats, Rattus spp., together with their parasites and diseases, emerges as the most reasonable hypothesis explaining the extinction of M. insularis.

Keywords

Human-related extinctionRats (Rattus spp.)Lava MouseMalpaisomys insularisFuerteventura, Canary IslandsAMS 14C
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 70 , Issue 2 , September 2008 , pp. 141 - 148
Copyright
University of Washington

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