the kiore or Polynesian rat is widespread right across the Pacific. In NZ it used to be extremely common throughout the country and is thought to have been responsible for many pre-European extinctions of the smaller animals such as flightless wrens, owlet-nightjar, lizards, frogs and giant insects. After the introduction of European rats (the black rat Rattus rattus and brown rat Rattus norvegicus) the kiore disappeared almost entirely from the mainland and is now only found on offshore islands. These ones at Nga Manu were the first ones I'd seen in the living state, so it was quite interesting even if they do basically look just like any other Rattus
Does anybody know where the original ancestor of the kiore came from? Did it spread with humans throughout the Pacific archipelagos?
the species originates in southeast Asia where it is still common. It was spread through the Pacific by the ancestors of today's Melanesian and Polynesian people. The spread was probably a combination of accidental and deliberate (the Polynesian rat is a favoured food item throughout the Pacific islands)
