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M. Masseti: Homogenisation and the loss of biodiversity of mammals of the Mediterranean islands 183
Figure 18 A partial depigmentation of the coat colour is not so 1910, Miller 1912, Steesma and Reese 1996). The main
unusual in the representatives of the Crocidurinae subfamily, phenotypic pattern was, however, indicated in the throat
such as the bi-coloured white-toothed shrew, Crocidura leuco- patch which was greatly reduced, despite being appar-
don Hermann 1780 (photo: Massimo Del Guasta). ently absent in one of the seven skins examined by Bate
(1905b). Studies on this aspect conducted by Nietham-
of the islands from which they are now reported, raises mer and Niethammer (1967) and Ragni et al. (1999),
a series of intriguing questions that are still far from being however, failed to record the existence of such a char-
answered. acteristic in the current populations of Crete, suggesting
that it should probably be attributed to the appalling con-
Apart from the few aforementioned exceptions, this ditions of conservation of the exemplars on which Bate
fauna displays virtually the same species composition, (1905b) based his taxonomic description. In reality, all the
being almost exclusively characterised by continental Cretan martens examined by Niethammer and Nietham-
taxa whose appearance on the islands has been almost mer (1967) and Ragni et al. (1999) displayed a pure white
essentially influenced by man. or greyish throat bib divided by a dark stripe into narrow
irregular sections on left and right (Figure 19). In this
The Holocene anthropical redefinition regard, the Cretan beech marten falls within the pheno-
of the ecological equilibrium typical patterns of the Near-Eastern model, characterised
by an irregular horseshoe-shaped throat mark which is
Previous authors classified many of the modern mam- displayed, for example, by the beech martens of the
mals as subspecific geographic forms, almost entirely on Levant (Syria and Palestine) (cf. Harrison and Bates
the basis of arbitrary criteria and the examination of scat- 1991). It is, however, surprising that the Cretan marten is
tered materials (Masseti 2002d). Based on the data given still described by MacDonald and Barrett (1993) as being
in the literature, the various subspecies are distinguished characterised by ‘‘«a small greyish throat patch’’. Fur-
by the coat patterns and by the size of body and skull. thermore, Corbet and Ovenden (1980) have provided a
As is consequently understandable, this led to a multi- pictorial description of the same taxon, with a small
plication of forms which now, however, demand better round patch in the middle of the throat, which is scarcely
taxonomic and genetic definition. Throughout most of the discernible and a far cry from the real throat patches of
19th and the 20th centuries, it was common practice either the Near Eastern or the European beech martens.
amongst scientific explorers to bring home an excessive
number of subspecies from their explorations of the Together with the Cretan marten, all the other popu-
Mediterranean islands. This is the light in which we must lations described above are the result of ancient intro-
consider the taxonomic treatment, on the part of the ductions performed by man since prehistoric times, and
international scientific community, of the lagomorphs, the continued possibly without interruption throughout his-
mustelids and the wild goats of the Balearic, Tyrrhenian torical chronologies (Masseti 1998). As a consequence of
and Aegean islands, as well as the Tyrrhenian and Cyp- this, they can be defined as populations of anthropocho-
riot mouflons, or the wild boars and the deer of Corsica prous origin.
and Sardinia (cf. Masseti 2007b). For instance, the Cretan
marten, Martes foina bunites Bate 1906, was described What appears evident is that, starting from the Early
as a geographic subspecies presumably dispersed on Holocene, there began a human colonisation of the Med-
Karpathos, Crete and several other Aegean islands (Wer- iterranean islands that entailed the massive introduction
ner 1928, De Beaux 1929, Ondrias 1965, Corbet 1978, of continental fauna species, accompanied by the grad-
Douma-Petridou 1984, Masseti 1995a, 2002c), which ual disappearance of the endemic elements. This effec-
was mainly distinguished by a smaller size and by a light- tively took place in a diachronic and differentiated form
er and more yellowish coat colour than those of the nom-
inal form M. foina Erxleben 1777 (Bate 1905b, Trouessart Figure 19 It was at length believed that the Cretan marten,
Martes foina bunites Bate 1906, was characterised by the
extreme reduction, if not the complete absence, of the throat
patch (Bate 1905b, Corbet and Ovenden 1980, MacDonald and
Barrett 1993). Chania, Crete, June 1994 (photo: Marco Masseti).
