Maltese Vole (Microtus melitensis)

The Maltese Vole was described in 1920 based on remains that had been excavated in the Ghar Dalam Cave in southwestern Malta, from deposits that have been dated to an age of about 18000 BCE, which means that this is actually a Pleistocene species.

The author of the species compared it with the Tyrrhenian Vole (Microtus henseli (F. Major)), another extinct Mediterranean vole species, from which the Maltese species is said to have differed by its smaller size. [1]

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The Maltese Vole is often thought to have survived into the Holocene era, as have other closely related forms from other Mediterranean islands, it is thus mentioned here as well.

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References: 

[1] Dorothea M. A. Bate: Note on a new vole and other remains from the Ghar Dalam Cavern, Malta. Geological Magazine 57(5): 208-211. 1920

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edited: 04.05.2019