Fossil - Complete mounted skeleton

Systematic/ Paleontology

Reign: Animalia
Phylum/Division: Chordata (Vertebrata)
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Gliridae
Scientific name: Leithia melitensis (Adams, 1863)

Geological age

Geochronology (Chronostratigraphy)

Eon (Eontema): Phanerozoic
Era (Eratema): Cenozoic
Period (System): Neogene
Epoca (Serie): Pleistocene
Age (Plain): Middle Pleistocene
Other chronological subdivisions : Middle Pleistocene

Description: The giant dormouse Leithia melitensis is an endemic form typical of Sicily and Malta. It is characterized by larger than normal size. Terrestrial insular faunas have often differed from similar continental faunas, developing gigantism of small mammals. The increased size of small mammals might be an adaptive modification to make be less vulnerable to birds of prey, which are normally the only predators in the islands. In Sicily Leithia melitensis it is often associated with the remains of Leithia cartei belonging to the same genus but of much lower size, almost equal to that of the current log. It is associated with the remains of dwarf elephant (Elephas falconeri, Busk). The current dormouse lives in deciduous forests with little shrub layer, even in high mountains. The habits are mainly nocturnal, the animal spending most of the day sleeping. It feeds on buds, shoots, nuts, hazelnuts and other fruits. The dormouse is subject to winter hibernation. The nest is often built in the canopy of the trees or in a hole, and during the winter it settles in hollow logs or underground. The female, after a gestation period of about thirty days, gives birth, in midsummer, to 4 or 5 puppies.

Location

Continent/Subcontinent : Europe
State: Italy
Region: Sicilia
Province: Palermo
Municipality: Palermo
Place: Grotta Marasà

Università degli Studi di Padova, Museo di Geologia e Paleontologia

Item code: 27891

Bibliography

  • Del Favero L., Fornasiero Mg., 2005 - "Nani e giganti siciliani nelle collezioni del Museo di Geologia e Paleontologia dell'Università di Padova". Quad. Mus. Geol. Gemmelaro, 8:71-74.