Endemic Maltese wildlife


The Maltese Islands, although small in area, host many endemic species. This may make the organism endangered. These endemic species are important to the Maltese Islands because they form part of Maltese national heritage and are topics of scientific research.

Introduction

Of the 10,000 estimated terrestrial and freshwater species in the Maltese archipelago, 78 are endemic, a large number considering the country's size. Only 4,500 species have so far been identified, and others still await correct taxonomic classification, which means that there may be several more endemic species yet to be discovered.
Twenty-three of the endemic species are vascular plants and plants such as bryophytes, while the remaining 55 species are animals.

Plants

There are known extinct Maltese plants.
Maltese plants are many and varied. For example, most algae are found in Maltese waters, approximately 300 are not microscopic.
Some plants on the Maltese Islands are referred to as endemic which means they have no relatives elsewhere in the world.
Below is a list of some endemic plants which can be found throughout the Maltese Islands:
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 :