LARGE PLEISTOCENE MAMMALS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN ISLANDS

The large Pleistocene mammals of the Mediterranean islands show two main distintive features : variations in body size and morphofunctional modifications of the skull, dentition and limbs, with the appearence of apomorphic characters. These variations are the result of interaction among several factors (e.g. reduction of the genetic pool, endogamy, hormonal shocks, neotenia, intra- and inter-specific relationships, food supply, free ecological niches etc.) which may have greater or lesser importance at different times. The morphofunctional modifications seem to be more dependent on the environmental change from mainland to insular biotopes. It is difficult to establish an univocal model of the insularization mechanism for the large Pleistocene mammals : each island had its faunas, each insular fauna had its history. Filtering effects of barriers, dispersal routes and modality of migration may differ based on the mammal group and may change during the time.