some authors have suggested that its extinction may have resulted from overhunting by pre-columbian humans. however, it is unknown whether this species was contemporaneous with human populations. fossil specimens discovered at the end of the 20th century on anguilla have been dated to the last interstadial period, while very recent discoveries made on coco islet (saint-barthélemy) are dated to 400,000 - 500,000 years; no bone has been recovered yet from a pre-columbian archaeological site.