tionallysmall mammals like rats can reach gigantic propor-
tions. This ecological phenomenon is commonly termed the
“island rule”, and Timor is no exception to this.
Long before people arrived, Timor hosted small elephant-
like creatures known as stegodons. Arriving perhaps at around
the same time at the stegodons were four or ive different species
of rats, some of which would eventually became much larger than
their ancestors (Fig. 2). The largest of these, in fact the largest
rat in the world, weighed in at 5 kg, or ten times the size of the
modern black rat. Not all of Timor’s rats were that large,
although the smallest of the giant rats was a still an impressive
1.5 kg. By the time humans arrived on Timor there were at
least seven different species of giant rats that lived alongside
several native species of regular-sized rats, lizards and snakes.
It’s still not known exactly when the ancestors of the giant
rats irst got to Timor, and how long they lived in splendid
isolation before people arrived. This is because until recently all
of the giant rat fossils have been recovered from archaeolog-
ical deposits (Fig. 3). However, a natural fossil accumulation of
giant rats was recently discovered, and it is hoped that this site
will provide insights into the ancient history of these rodents.
Moreover, because the giant rat fossils represent the scraps
and discards from many cave dinners, and the specimens recov-
ered are usually broken up and burnt, it’s diicult to work out
exactly where these different species lived and what they ate. We
do know, by examining how their teeth and jaws look, and in
comparison with modern species with known diets, that these
animals were mostly eating grains, grasses and other vegetable
matter (Fig. 4).
While we still don’t know much about the biology and
ecology of these giant rats, the environments they preferred or
how so many different species were able to live together, one
thing we do know is when they inally became extinct.
FortBuilding and Extinctions
The remains of fortiied structures are abundant in many parts
of Timor-Leste. These structures are often found on hilltops and
cliff edges, and consist of massive stone walls up to 4 metres in
height and 2 metres depth coming out of the jungle overgrowth
(Fig. 5). It is thought that the large scale and proliic construc-
tion of these defensive structures began as early as AD1300
and was driven by escalating conlicts between Timorese villages,
in turn driven by the demand for scarce resources, in partic-
ular the increasingly rare sandlewood.
Timor was famous in the medieval Asian world for the export
of white sandlewood – a fragrant timber used in the manufac-
ture of perfumes and incense used in the religious ceremonies
of many different faiths. As early as AD1225 Timor is
mentioned in the written trade records of China as an impor-
tant source of sandlewood, which was traded to Chinese junks
for silver, cloth, ceramics and iron.APRIL 2016|| 25Figure 3. Villagers from Cribas excavating Fatu Aki Anik Knua,
while Gil Oliveira (right) from the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and
Culture looks on. Credit: S. Samper Carro
Figure 4. The author compares a giant rat jaw (left) with
one from a modern black rat. Credit: Stuart Hay, ANU