Quaternary environments and biogeography of the Maltese Islands

Abstract

In this contribution, we describe the environmental changes of the Quaternary period and show how these have affected the Maltese environment and the development of the Maltese fauna. Early accounts of the Maltese Quaternary deposits were often constrained by the prevailing theoretical frameworks in which they were embedded. The theoretical background to the Quaternary has changed radically over the last thirty years, as new stratigraphical and chronostratigraphical methods have been adopted and as our understanding of climatic change and ecological, geomorphological, pedogenic and sedimentation processes have improved. As a result, much early work, although at the time done to the highest professional standards, is now in urgent need of reassessment. The reassessment of the early research on the Maltese Quaternary, and particularly of the renowned Maltese Quaternary faunas, enables us to examine biogeographical processes and patterns and make suggestions for future research.