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Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: Rat Remains Suggest Humans Came Late to New Zealand


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Radiocarbon dating of ancient seeds gnawed by the invasive Pacific rat (above, in an undated photo) have confirmed that humans arrived in New Zealand in A.D. 1280, a thousand years later than previously thought.

The results match with radiocarbon dating of rat bones from the island, as well as research into the earliest-dated archaeological sites, human-induced plants extinctions, and deforestation.

Photograph by CINHP/G. McCormack