Marine turtles used to assist Austronesian sailors reaching new islands.
C R Biol
; 339(2): 78-82, 2016 Feb.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-26857090
Austronesians colonized the islands of Rapa Nui, Hawaii, the Marquesas and Madagascar. All of these islands have been found to harbor Austronesian artifacts and also, all of them are known nesting sites for marine turtles. Turtles are well known for their transoceanic migrations, sometimes totalling thousands of miles, between feeding and nesting grounds. All marine turtles require land for nesting. Ancient Austronesians are known to have had outstanding navigation skills, which they used to adjust course directions. But these skills will have been insufficient to locate tiny, remote islands in the vast Indo-Pacific oceans. We postulate that the Austronesians must have had an understanding of the marine turtles' migration patterns and used this knowledge to locate remote and unknown islands. The depth and speed at which marine turtles migrate makes following them by outrigger canoes feasible. Humans have long capitalized on knowledge of animal behavior.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Tortugas
/
Migración Animal
/
Navegación Espacial
/
Personal Militar
Límite:
Animals
/
Humans
País/Región como asunto:
Oceania
Idioma:
En
Revista:
C R Biol
Asunto de la revista:
BIOLOGIA
Año:
2016
Tipo del documento:
Article