Animals
There are more endemic animals than plants in the Maltese Islands. Many a time, the animal in question has been confused with a different species from a close country e.g. the Sicilian shrew in Gozo which has been defined as a subspecies of its own.
Below is a list of some endemic animals (together with their classification):
- Maltese Field Beetle Pimelia rugulosa ssp. melitana
- Schembri's Spider Fly Ogcodes schembrii
- Maltese Ruby Tiger Moth Phragmatobia fuliginosa ssp. melitensis
- Swallowtail (Maltese subspecies) Papilio machaon ssp. melitensis
- Maltese freshwater crab Potamon fluviatile ssp. lanfrancoi
- Maltese Palpigrade Eukoenia christiani
- Maltese Wall Lizard (this species has many subspecies, four of which are endemic to the Maltese Islands) Podarcis filfolensis
- Sicilian Shrew Crocidura sicula ssp. calypso
Read more about this topic: Endemic Maltese Wildlife
Famous quotes containing the word animals:
“In their sympathies, children feel nearer animals than adults. They frolic with animals, caress them, share with them feelings neither has words for. Have they ever stroked any adult with the love they bestow on a cat? Hugged any grownup with the ecstasy they feel when clasping a puppy?”
—Jessamyn West (1907–1984)
“The alcoholic trance is not just a haze, as though the eyes were also unshaven. It is not a mere buzzing in the ears, a dizziness or disturbance of balance. One arrives in the garden again, at nursery time, when the gentle animals are fed and in all the world there are only toys.”
—William Gass (b. 1924)
“Thou almost mak’st me waver in my faith
To hold opinion with Pythagoras,
That souls of animals infuse themselves
Into the trunks of men.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)