Standard industrial classification manual, 1987

Abstract

The time and mode of colonization of Gargano have been a subject of debate. Taking into account the temporal distribution of the ancestors of the Mikrotia fauna, a Late Tortonian age represents the best fit for the time of migration. How these animals reached the island is even harder to decide. In the past some scholars embraced rafting as an important mechanism enabling small mammals to reach the islands, whereas others rejected this hypothesis, considering it an improbable mode of colonization. The recent record of oceanic rafts indicates that rafting is indeed a very plausible method for small-sized animals to reach islands, and the most probable method for the colonization of Gargano. A polyphasic model, as proposed by Masini and colleagues, is rejected in the case of Gargano, as it is based on a misinterpretation of the adaptive radiations within the Mikrotia fauna.