Extinction and biogeography of bats on 'Eua, Kingdom of Tonga. American Museum novitates ; no. 3125

Abstract

"Prehistoric bones from caves on the island of 'Eua, Kingdom of Tonga, document the former presence of the megachiropterans Pteropus tonganus, Pteropus samoensis, and Notopteris macdonaldi and the microchiropterans Emballonura semicaudata and Chaerephon jobensis. Of these five species of bats, only Pteropus tonganus and Emballonura semicaudata still occur on 'Eua or anywhere else in Tonga. Bones of all five species occur in sediments that predate the arrival of humans on 'Eua (i.e., those more than 3500-3000 years old) as well as in younger deposits. The extinction of bat species on 'Eua, as with the two species of lizards and 23 species of land birds, is probably related to human impact"--P. [1].