Maltese Small Terrestial Mammals:
Insectivora; Lagomorpha; Rodentia

The first serious attempt to list the Maltese mammalian species can be dated to 1890. This list however was far from complete and included a number of mistaken identifications. The small mammals listed in this work (Gulia, 1890) included the hedgehog [Erinaceus europaeus Linnaeus], the wild rabbit [Lepus cuniculus Linnaeus], and four species of rodents [Mus decumanus Linnaeus; Mus alexandrinus Geoffr.; Mus musculus Linnaeus; Arvicola amphibius Linnaeus].

Further additions to this list were subsequently made so that in 1969, G. Lanfranco in his reviewed list considered this group of mammals to be represented by seven confirmed species and four doubtful ones. Further work by other authors has confirmed the status referred to in the list below. In addition a number of fossil forms have been excavated from the Pliestocene deposits of the Islands.


 

SYSTEMATIC LIST OF REPORTED MALTESE TERRESTIAL SMALL MAMMALIAN SPECIES

Order: LAGOMORPHA
Family: LEPORIDAE
Oryctolagus cuniculus (Linnaeus) s.sp. ? huxley Haeckel
Wild Rabbit
maltese: Fenek salvagg; (young) zarmug
status: Definitely recorded. Still encountered in the countryside, but number are dininishing in view of hunting and decreasing habitat areas. Recorded from Malta, Gozo, Conimo, Cominotto, St. Paul's Is., Filfla.
 

Order: RODENTIA
Suborder: MYOMORPHA
Family: MURIDAE
Subfamily: MICROTINAE
Arvicola amphibius (Linnaeus)
Water Vole, Water rat
maltese: Far ta' l-Ilma
status: Listed first in 1858 (Gulia, 1858) and subsequently mentioned by other naturalists probably basing their record on this authority. Not presently represented. The species was also listed as represented by Pliestocene fossil remains (Adams, 1877) but this referred to the fossil species Pitymys melitensis (Bate, 1935).

Subfamily: MURINIDAE
Genus: Rattus
status: Two species recorded from the Maltese Islands (cf. below). Besides the main Islands - Malta, Gozo, Comino - the genus was noted on Filfla (? washed ashore); Cominotto; and St. Paul's Is.

Rattus rattus (Linnaeus)
subspecies: rattus Linnaeus; alexandrinus Geoffroy; rufescens Gray; ?frugivorus Rafinesque
Black Rat, Ship Rat
maltese: Gurdien/Far iswed
status: Common along the coastline. Species recorded from Malta, Gozo, and Comino. The species was also recorded from the two superficial layers of Ghar Dalam Cave dated to Prehistoric and Phoenician - Modern Times.

Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout)
Brown Rat
maltese: Far tal-Kampanja status: Common in countryside. Species recorded from Malta, Gozo, Comino, and Cominotto. The species was also recorded from the uppermost superficial layer of Ghar Dalam Cave dated to Phoenician - Modern Times.

Mus musculus (Linnaeus)
subspecies: brevirostris (Waterhouse);   praetextus (Brants)
House mouse
maltese: Gurdien ta' l-Imramma
status: Very common. Recorded from Malta and Gozo. A mouse species (unidentified) was noted on Comino. The species was also recorded from the uppermost superficial layer of Ghar Dalam Cave dated to Phoenician - Modern Times.

Apodemus sylvaticus (Linnaeus)
Wood mouse
maltese: Gurdien tar-Raba
status: Found in open countryside. Recorded from Malta in the forn of live specimens, and from Gozo in the form of skeletal remains in Barn Owl pellets. The species was also recorded from the second superficial layer of Ghar Dalam Cave dated to Prehistoric period.

Family: GLIRIDAE
Eliomys (Maltamys) gollcheri de Bruijn
status: Described from Pliestocene remains from Mnaidra Gap (Malta).

Eliomys (Maltamys) wiedincitensis Zammit Maempel & de Bruijn
status: Described from late Pliestocene deposits at Wied Incita (Malta).

Leithia melitensis Adams
Great Dormouse
status: Described from Pliestocene deposits at Mnaidra Gap, Tal-Gnien fissure (Mqabba), Benghisa Gap and Wied Incita in Malta.

Leithia cartei Adams
Carte's Dormouse
status: Pliestocene remains from Mnaidra Gap material in Malta. It has been suggested that this material may have been synonymous with Eliomys gollcheiri.

Family: CRICETIDAE
Pitymys melitensis (Bate)
status: Pliestocene remains from Ghar Dalam cave (Malta).

Pitymys pauli Bate
status: Pliestocene remains from Ghar Dalam cave (Malta).

Order: INSECTIVORA
Suborder: EUINSECTIVORA
Family: ERINACEIDAE
Subfamily: ERINACEINAE
Erinaceus europaeus (Linnaeus)
European Hedgehog Maltese: qanfud
status: Repeatedly listed by Maltese naturalists, but not represented on the Islands. Mistaken identification with Arthechinus algirus (Lanfranco, 1969).

Arthechinus algirus (Duv. & Lereb)
Vagrant Hedgehog
maltese: Qanfud
status: Common in the countryside, though number are decreasing with decreasing habitat areas. Recorded from Malta, Gozo, and Comino. The species was also recorded from the uppermost layer of Ghar Dalam Cave dated to Phoenician - Modern Times.

Family: SORICIDAE
Subfamily: CROCIDURINAE
Suncus etruscus (Savi)
Etruscan Shrew
maltese: Gurdien ta' Halqu twil
status: Apparently common in the countryside. Reported by most naturalists as occuring in Malta and Gozo. The species was also recorded from the uppermost layer of Ghar Dalam Cave dated to Phoenician - Modern Times.

Sorex araneus (Linnaeus)
Common Shrew
status: Only listed once as occurring in Malta, but this was a mistaken identification. Not presently represented.

Genus: Crocidura
The status of this genus in the Maltese Islands is still controversial. The living forms of this genus have only been recorded from Gozo (never from Malta). Chromosomal analysis of three specimens of the genus from Gozo showed a karyotype of 2n = 36 which differs from C. sauveolens and C. russula, and is similar to the C. sicula (syn. C. caudata) of Sicily and related to C. canariensis endemic on the Canary Is. (Vogel et al, 1990). The genus was also represented in all the layers of Ghar Dalam Cave including the early Pliestocene layers. The Pliestocene material from Malta have been referred to the fossil species C. esui Kotsakis

Crocidura suaveolens Pallas
Lesser White-toothed Shrew; Scilly Shrew
status: Species recorded from Gozo in the form of skeletal remains in Barn Owl pellets and dead specimen. Also reported as fossil Pliestocene remains from Ghar Dalam (Pitymys-Cervus layer).

Crocidura russula (Hermann)
Common European White-toothed Shrew
status: Species recorded from Gozo in the form of skeletal remains in Barn Owl pellets. Also reported from the two superficial layers of Ghar Dalam Cave dated to Prehistoric and Phoenician - Modern Times. Also reported from Pliestocene deposits in Malta at Ghar Dalam and Tal-Gnien fissure - C. cf. russula.

Crocidura cf. leucodon
Bicoloured White-toothed Shrew
status: Reported as fossil remains from Ghar Dalam Cave.

REFERENCE
AL Adams: On a gigantic land tortoise and a small freshwater species from the ossiferous caverns on Maslta. Quart J. Geol Soc. London, 1877, 33:177-191
DMA Bate: Two new mammals from the pliestocene of Malta, with notes on the associated fauna. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1935, p.247-264
Gav. Guilia: Repertorio di Storia Naturale. Anglo-Maltese: Malta, 1858, p.125,186-187
Giov. Gulia: Elenco dei Mammiferi Maltesi. Il Naturalista Maltese, 1890, 1(1):2-3
GG Lanfranco: Maltese Mammals (Central Mediterranean). Progress Press: Malta, 1969
C. Savona-Ventura: On the occurrance of Apodemus sylvaticus (Linnaeus) (Mammalia, Rodentia, Murinidae) in the Maltese Islands with notes on other Maltese Rodents. Animalia, 1981, 8(1/3):83-86; also correspondence in Potamon, 1984, 2(13):83
PJ Schembri; SP Schembri: On the occurrence of Crocidura suaveolens Pallas (Mammalia Insectivora) in the Maltese Islands with notes on other Maltese shrews. Central Med. Naturalist, 1979, 1:18-21
P. Vogel; PJ Schembri; M. Borg; J. Sultana: The shrew (Crocidura sp.) of Gozo, a probable survivor of the pliestocene fauna of Mediterranean Islands. Z. Saugetierkunde, 1990, 55:357-359
G. Zammit Maempel; H. de Bruijn: The Plio/Pliestocene Gliridae from the Mediterranean Islands reconsidered. Proc. Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie, 1982, B 85(1):113-128