Mortality in a predator-free insular environment : the dwarf deer of Crete

Title Variants

Alternative: Dwarf deer of Crete

Alternative: Mortality patterns in Cretan deer

Related Titles

Series: American Museum novitates, no. 3807

By

Geer, Alexandra van der, 1963-

Lyras, G. A. (George A.)
MacPhee, R. D. E.
Lomolino, Mark V., 1953-
Drinia, Hara.

Type

Book

Material

Published material

Publication info

New York, NY, American Museum of Natural History, [2014]

Notes

Caption title.

"June 30, 2014."

Local PDF available in high- and low-resolution versions.

Age-graded fossils of Pleistocene endemic Cretan deer (Candiacervus spp.) reveal unexpectedly high juvenile mortality similar to that reported for extant mainland ruminants, despite the fact that these deer lived in a predator-free environment and became extinct before any plausible date for human arrival. Age profiles show that deer surviving past the fawn stage were relatively long-lived for ruminants, indicating that high juvenile mortality was not an expression of their living a "fast" life. Although the effects on survivorship of such variables as fatal accidents, starvation, and disease are difficult to gauge in extinct taxa, the presence of extreme morphological variability within nominal species/ecomorphs of Candiacervus is consistent with the view that high juvenile mortality can function as a key innovation permitting rapid adaptation in insular contexts.

Subjects

Age determination , Candiacervus , Cervidae, Fossil , Crete , Deer, Fossil , Greece , Island animals , Island ecology , Life cycles , Mammals, Fossil , Mortality , Paleontology , Pleistocene

Call Number

QL1 .A436 no.3807 2014

Language

English

Identifiers

OCLC: 882096589