A new study argues that rats, not just people, drove Easter Island’s deforestation. A few stowaways exploded into millions, gnawing through the island’s future—one palm seed at a time. #Archaeology #IslandEcology #RapaNui #Anthropology https://www.anthropology.net/p/rats-palms-and-the-fall-of-a-forest
Rats, Palms, and the Fall of a Forest: Rethinking Rapa Nui’s “Ecocide”

A new study suggests Easter Island’s deforestation was not just a human story but a rodent one—where a few stowaways changed the course of an island’s ecology.

Anthropology.net