Stable isotope analyses of the planktonic foraminifers Globigerinoides obliquus and Globigerinoides trilobus from a number of sections from Sicily (Italy) yielded a rather detailed Middle Miocene to Upper Pliocene record. A comparison between this record and previously published stable isotope records from the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans suggests that, at least during the time span considered, the Mediterranean had a paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic history that bears a close resemblance to that of the world's oceans. Four different local Mediterranean overprints on the general isotope signal are distinguished: (1) the disruption of the Tethys sea-way and the subsequent installation of a strong salinity stratification; (2) short term eustatic sea-level changes during the Miocene resulting in salinity stratification and sapropel deposition; (3) periodic increase of run-off and subsequent salinity stratification during the Pliocene, also resulting in sapropel deposition; (4) Pliocene trends in the carbon isotope pattern deviating from the oceanic one, the reason for which remained obscure.