Megafaunal meiolaniid horned turtles survived until early human settlement in Vanuatu, Southwest Pacific

Abstract

Meiolaniid or horned turtles are members of the extinct Pleistocene megafauna of Australia and the southwest Pacific. The timing and causes of their extinction have remained elusive. Here we report the remains of meiolaniid turtles from cemetery and midden layers dating 3,100/3,000 calibrated years before present to approximately 2,900/2,800 calibrated years before present in the Teouma Lapita archaeological site on Efate in Vanuatu. The remains are mainly leg bones; shell fragments are scant and there are no cranial or caudal elements, attesting to off-site butchering of the turtles. The new taxon differs markedly from other named insular terrestrial horned turtles. It is the only member of the family demonstrated to have survived into the Holocene and the first known to have become extinct after encountering humans.

Turtles and Tortoises of the World During the Rise and Global Spread of Humanity: First Checklist and Review of Extinct Pleistocene and Holocene Chelonians.

“…Comment: This is the most recently extinct named taxon of Meiolaniidae, extirpated by modern humans of the Lapita culture. The midden specimens consisted primarily of limb elements, rather than carapace or plastron bones, supporting the direct evidence of butchering and transportation by humans (White et al 2010). Further analysis has shown that fruit bats, marine turtles, and Meiolania were initially heavily targeted for exploitation in close proximity to the Lapita site, resulting in local resource depletion and a resultant subsistence change towards harvest of more mobile foraging individuals further afield (Kinaston et al 2014;S.…”

“…Although the continental species in Australia may have also been affected by the gradual aridification of their habitat, they were probably affected more by human exploitation, similarly to the documented extirpation of the Australian continental megafauna at around 46,000 ybp (Flannery 1994). On their last Pacific island refugia, the last of the Meiolaniidae went extinct as a result of consumptive exploitation by humans, as noted by White et al (2010), who documented finds of butchered meiolaniid bones in midden deposits from the Late Holocene.…”

“…Among the Meiolaniidae, we have the remarkable giant terrestrial horned turtle, Meiolania damelipi from Vanuatu in the southern Pacific Ocean, also eaten into extinction by humans by about 810 BC (White et al 2010), as well as an unnamed giant horned turtle from nearby New Caledonia, that went extinct as recently as about 531 AD . This unnamed and vanished species was apparently the last surviving member of this most impressively distinct and ancient family of giant horned terrestrial turtles.…”

“…12), with seven Pleistocene taxa, all went extinct during these times, their final demise associated with evidence of human exploitation on small remote South Pacific islands during the Late Holocene White et al 2010).…”

Multi-isotopic analysis of first Polynesian diet (Talasiu, Tongatapu, Kingdom of Tonga)

“…These expected human diet values are consistent with the consumption of a mixed diet involving at least three dietary components. The stable carbon isotope ratios demonstrate the complementary contribution of terrestrial resources, including C 3 -plants and animal Data from: Fry et al, 1983;Collier and Hobson, 1987;Keegan and DeNiro, 1988;Leach et al, 1996;Ambrose et al, 1997;Yoneda et al, 2004;Valentin et al, 2006;Beavan Athfield et al, 2008;Field et al, 2009;Allen and Craig, 2009;Jones and Quinn, 2009;Richards et al, 2009;White et al, 2010;Valentin et al, 2010;Storey et al, 2010; Only 1 archaeological specimen from Valentin et al, 2010. b All data from Yoneda et al, 2004, on 81 bone collagen samples. c Only 2 archaeological specimens from Kinaston et al, 2014. d All specimens are archaeological except 10 moderns from Ambrose et al, 1997, Valentin et al, 2006, Beavan Athfield et al, 2008 e All samples are modern ones.…”