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180 M. Masseti: Homogenisation and the loss of biodiversity of mammals of the Mediterranean islands
manni von Wettstein 1953, and two rodents, the recently with the endemic mammals that lived on Crete. It
discovered, and already mentioned, Cypriot mouse, Mus regressed after the man-made introduction of the spe-
cypriacus, and perhaps also the Kerkennah islands dipo- cies that characterise the current fauna (Reumer and
dil, Dipodillus zakariai Cockrum, Vaughan and Vaughan Payne 1986). Today, this shrew is not known anywhere
1976, from the namesake Tunisian archipelago (Figure outside Crete (Reumer 1996) and is therefore considered
15). endemic to this island (Vogel et al. 1990, Reumer 1996,
Hutterer 2005).
From a cytogenetic analysis of shrews found on Sicily
and the island of Gozo (Maltese archipelago), it became Recently, a phylogenetic survey has confirmed that the
evident that all the members of the Crocidura genus from non-commensal mouse of Cyprus, Mus cypriacus, was
the Siculo-Maltese archipelago actually belong to the an unknown sister species of the European wild mice
same species C. sicula (Vogel et al. 1989). This taxon is (Bonhomme et al. 2004, Cucchi et al. 2006). Genetic and
endemic to Sicily, the archipelago of Egades (Levanzo, morphometric analyses provide satisfying criteria for the
Favignana and Marettimo), Ustica and Gozo, and is con- diagnosis of this new species in relation to other Medi-
sidered as being extinct on Malta (Vogel et al. 1990, Sara` terranean taxa. The most obvious phenotypic character-
1995, 1996). It is a probable survivor from the Pleisto- istics are its long tail and the allometric gigantism and
cene, but not related to the endemite C. esuae Kotsakis robustness of its cranial and dental characters. Accord-
1986, living in the Middle Pleistocene of Sicily (Kotsakis ing to Cucchi et al. (2006), the molecular clock and the
1986, Hutterer 1990, Sara` , 1995), and apparently re- history of the murine settlement on Cyprus are congruent
placed by C. sicula since the terminal Pleistocene (Bon- and suggest that the common ancestor of M. cypriacus
figlio et al. 1997). The Sicilian shrew has also been and the Balkan short-tailed mouse, M. macedonicus
identified as a conspecific form of C. canariensis (Hut- Petrov and Ruzˇ ic´ 1983, arrived on Cyprus during the
terer et al. 1987), endemic to the Canary islands (Sara` Middle Pleistocene through a founder event on natural
1995). According to certain authors (Vogel et al. 1990, raft. The remoteness of Cyprus through time has pre-
Sara` 1995, 1996, 1998), that of C. sicula is to be com- vented introgression from the mainland gene pool and
prised amongst the extinctions that took place also on favoured phenotypic adaptation to competition release,
the small island of Lampedusa in the Sicilian channel in leading to the allopatric speciation of M. cypriacus.
the course of the Holocene. Nevertheless, considering
the markedly African character of the terrestrial mammal The Kerkennah islands dipodil is regarded as endemic
fauna yielded by the fossil horizons of Lampedusa (cf. to the homonymous archipelago (Cockum et al. 1976,
Burgio et al. 1997), the presence of a Sicilian-Maltese Lamine Cheniti 1988, Cheylan 1988, 1990, Pavlinov et al.
endemite within this would raise a number of questions 1990), and it is no longer synonymised with the North
and should in any case be considered with caution (Mas- African mainland Simon’s dipodil, Dipodillus simoni
seti and Zava 2002b). Lataste 1881 (cf. Musser and Carleton 2005), as instead
reported by Gippoliti and Amori (2006) apparently follow-
The Cretan white-toothed shrew has instead been ing Musser and Carleton (1993). It could be interesting
recognised by Reumer (1986) as a relic of the Early and to note that, apart from the latter species, rodents on
Middle Pleistocene group of European Crocidura spe- Kerkennah are today represented only by non-endemic
cies, and of the Pleistocene Mediterranean fauna. Effec- species, such as the greater jerboa, Jaculus orientalis
tively, fossils of this species have probably been present Erxleben 1777, the house mouse, Mus musculus L. 1758,
since the Early Pleistocene, being found in association and the black rat (Cockum et al. 1976, Cheylan 1988,
Figure 15 Present distribution of the mammalian species currently regarded as endemic to the Mediterranean islands.
