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178 M. Masseti: Homogenisation and the loss of biodiversity of mammals of the Mediterranean islands
slightly larger overall body size, longer wings, a morpho- a lengthy process that began in pre-Neolithic periods and
logically different humerus, and disproportionately longer continued up to historical times. It now appears suffi-
legs (Weesie 1982, 1988). Furthermore, Lydekker (1890) ciently plausible that, up to the Late Pleistocene/Early
described the vulture Gyps melitensis Lidekker 1890, Holocene, this basin increasingly represented less a bar-
from the Pleistocene of Malta. This closely resembled the rier than a bridge (Uerpmann 1979, Lewthaite 1987,
extant griffon vulture, G. fulvus Hablizl 1783, but was Binder 1989, Guilaine 1994, Orliac 1997), in a relatively
approximately one-fifth larger. Moreover, the osteological short time promoting and multiplying the circulation of
peculiarities of this Maltese vulture clearly correspond to ideas, merchandise, faunal and botanical elements and
the remains of other fossil vultures described from Crete human groups, which spread into new and different envi-
(Weesie 1988) and from Pleistocene sites of continental ronments and, over time and in different ways, became
Europe (Boule 1910, 1921, Ja´ nossy 1963, 1974, Mourer- grafted onto the authochtonous substratum (Masseti and
Chauvire´ 1975, 1977). These osteological affinities sug- Vianello 1991, Masseti 1998). The available archaeologi-
gest that the dispersion of G. melitensis was not cal documentation, based on still quite fragmentary evi-
necessarily restricted to island environments, raising dence, tends to indicate that the first relocations by sea
doubts about the effective inclusion of the species in the Mediterranean basin were already carried out by
amongst the endemic taxa of the Mediterranean islands. hunter-gatherers in expression contexts of a Mesolithic
type (Jacobsen 1976, Perle` s 1979, Cherry 1981, 1990,
In the light of all this, the threat to the endemic mam- 1992, Simmons 1991, Masseti and Darlas 1999). Evi-
mals of the Mediterranean islands may have come from dence from the islands of Corsica (Camps 1988, Vigne
the sky (Figure 13). It has even been suggested that the and Desse-Berset 1995), Milos in the Western Cycladic
tendency often displayed by endemic insular shrews and archipelago (Perle` s 1979, Renfrew and Aspinall 1990),
rodents to become larger than their mainland counter- possibly Kythnos (Cherry 1979) and Cyprus (Simmons
parts may have been the result of adaptation engendered 1988, 1991, 1999) indicate improved seafaring capaci-
as a defence against the attacks of birds of prey. ties. In fact, from the late Mesolithic onwards the Medi-
terranean sea can be considered as a preferential route
The disappearance of the endemics for the exploration and subsequent colonisation of its
coastlines and islands (cf. Payne 1975, Perle` s 1979,
The circumstances of the insular endemics changed Shackleton et al. 1984, Fedele 1988, Pennacchioni 1996).
drastically around the end of the Pleistocene/Holocene,
the most significant cases of extinction over the past few For some islands it would appear that the endemic oli-
thousand years having been those of the insular species gotypic associations and/or single species vanished prior
(Howald et al. 2007). The most significant reason for this to periods for which there is evidence of permanent
appears to be linked to human action. As far as is known human occupation (cf. Masseti and Darlas 1999).
today, the data available for the Mediterranean islands According to the ‘theory of island biogeography’, out-
point to endemic faunal extinction being largely the result lined by MacArthur and Wilson (1967), island environ-
of human activities. ments tend to be characterised by a reduced biodiversity,
to which animal populations, similar to human commu-
Human exploration of the shores and coastlines of the nities, have to adapt. Thus, it has been suggested that
Mediterranean region began in ancient times, as man the extinction of the insular endemites may have been
sought to exploit new natural resources and/or discover related more to their inability to adapt further in the face
new geographical areas suitable for settlement. This was of a basically unfavourable environment than to the hunt-
ing prowess of pre-Neolithic man. In any case, this theory
Figure 13 The threat to the endemic mammals of the Medi- could prove more cogent for small and remote islets than
terranean islands may have come from the sky. In the picture, for islands, such as Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, Crete or
an artist’s reconstruction of a golden eagle, Aquila chrysae¨ tos L. Cyprus, still characterised by a great variety of natural
1758, attacking an individual of the endemic cave goat of Mal- resources. In the light of the archaeological evidence,
lorca is shown (drawing by Silvia Cantagalli Masseti). one might even conclude that the impact of hunter-gath-
erer communities on the ecology of Mediterranean
islands was relatively limited. Nevertheless, as argued by
Rackham and Moody (1996), if in the Early Mesolithic
trips to find obsidian, to Milos, for example, were com-
bined with hunting trips to other islands, many of the
endemic mammals may have disappeared before there
was any settlement, such as to leave an archaeological
record. In reality, in the case of Crete, for example, any
overlap between the endemic Pleistocene fauna and the
human occupation of the island has scant support from
archaeological data, despite considerable efforts to
uncover evidence of pre-Neolithic occupation (cf. Cherry
1992, Patton 1996). This is not to say, however, that the
Corsico-Sardinian ochotonid lagomorph Prolagus sar-
dous has not been hunted and eaten by people since
pre-Neolithic times, as far back as the 9th millennium as
