Everything about The Polynesian Rat totally explained
The
Polynesian Rat, or
Pacific Rat (
Rattus exulans), known to the
Māori as
kiore, is the third most widespread species of
rat in the world behind the
Brown Rat and
Black Rat. The Polynesian Rat originates in Southeast Asia but, like its cousins, has become well travelled - infiltrating most
Polynesian islands,
New Zealand,
Fiji, and even
Hawaii. It shares the ability to easily adapt to many different types of environments, from grasslands to forests. Its habits are also similar, becoming closely associated with humans because of the easy access to food. As a result it has become a major
pest in almost all areas within its distribution.
Description
The Polynesian Rat is similar in appearance to other rats like the Black and Brown Rats. It has large round ears, a pointed snout, black/brown hair with a lighter belly, but comparatively small feet. They have thin, long bodies, reaching up to in length from the nose to the base of the tail, making them slightly smaller than other human-associative rats. Where they exist on smaller islands they tend to be smaller still (for example ). They are commonly distinguished by a dark upper edge of the hind foot near the ankle. The rest of their foot is pale.
Distribution and habitat
The Polynesian Rat is widespread throughout the
Pacific and
South-east Asia. They can't swim over long distances and are therefore considered to be a significant marker of the
human migrations across the Pacific, as the
Polynesians accidentally or deliberately introduced them 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 rats. It has also been suggested that the rats played a role in the complete
deforestation of
Easter Island by eating the nuts of the local
palm tree, and thus preventing regrowth of the forest.
Remains of the Polynesian Rat have been dated to over 2000 years old in New Zealand with a number of dating methods. As this predates the Polynesian migrations to New Zealand by hundreds of years, the figure is in dispute. It is suggested that they came with early explorers who subsequently perished or left without colonising the islands.
Behaviour
Polynesian Rats are
nocturnal like most rodents, and are adept climbers, often nesting in trees. In winter, when food is scarce, it's common for them to strip bark for consumption and satisfy themselves with plant stems. They have common rat characteristics regarding reproduction;
polyestrous with gestations of 21-24 days, litter size affected by food and other resources (6-11 pups), weaning takes around another month at 28 days. Diverging only in the fact that they don't breed year round, instead restricting it to spring and summer.
Diet
R. exulans is an
omnivorous species: eating seeds, fruit, leaves, bark, insects, earthworms, spiders, lizards, avian eggs and hatchlings. Polynesian Rats have been observed to often take pieces of food back to a safe place in order to properly shell a seed or otherwise prepare certain foods. This not only protects them from predators but also from rain and other rats. These "husking stations" are often found among trees, near the roots, in fissures of the trunk, and even in the top branches. In New Zealand, for instance, such stations are found under rock piles and fronds shed by
Nikau palms.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Polynesian Rat'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://polynesian_rat.totallyexplained.com">Polynesian Rat Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
