The European small mammal faunas related to the first half of the Middle Pleistocene

By now the abundant European small mammal data have been collected from the deposits of the first part of the Middle Pleistocene (MIS 18 - MIS 11). The significant number of global climatic events (glaciations and interglacials) corresponds to this period. We analyzed the evolutional changes of small mammals of the Middle Pleistocene, revealed the reactions of small mammals on the different climatic events (glaciations, interglacials) and correlated the Western and the Eastern European faunas. The collected data also help us to divide the geological deposits age and permit to reconstruct the palaeogeographic picture of the past. The obtained results may serve as an important component for compiling biostratigraphic schemes of the Middle Pleistocene and the Pleistocene in general.