Candiacervus is an extinct genus of deer native to Pleistocene Crete.[Van der Geer, A.A.E., Dermitzakis, M., De Vos, J. 2006. Crete before the Cretans: the reign of dwarfs. Pharos 13, 121-132. Athens: Netherlands Institute. PDF] Due to a lack of other herbivores, the genus underwent an adaptive radiation, filling niches occupied by other taxa on the mainland. Due to the small size of Crete, some species underwent insular dwarfism,[Van der Geer, A.A.E., De Vos, J., Dermitzakis, M., Lyras, G., 2009. Hoe dieren op eilanden evolueren. Majorca, Ibiza, Kreta, Sardiniie, Sicilie, Japan, Madagaskar, Malta. Utrecht: Veen Magazines; . Ga naar Bruna ] the smallest species, C. ropalophorus, stood about at the shoulders when fully grown,
Taxonomy
The Cretan deer is a typical example of taxonomical problems involving endemic insular mammals, due to the much larger variety than on the mainland, and the strong
endemism. This obscures taxonomy, because many endemic features of
Candiacervus are not unique but are found in other island deer as well,
[Van der Geer, A.A.E. 2005. Island ruminants and the evolution of parallel functional structures. In: Cregut, E. (Ed.): Les ongulés holarctiques du Pliocène et du Pléistocène. Actes Colloque international Avignon, 19-22 septembre. Quaternair, 2005 hors-série 2: 231-240. Paris. PDF] such as
Cervus astylodon (Ryukyu Islands) and
Hoplitomeryx (Southern Italy).
De Vos (1979, 1984, 1996)
[De Vos, J. 1979. The endemic Pleistocene deer of Crete. Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, Series B 82 (1), 59-90][De Vos J. 1984. The endemic Pleistocene deer of Crete. Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, afd. Natuur¬kunde, eerste reeks 31. North Holland Publishing Compa¬ny. Amsterdam, Oxford, New York. 100 pp.][De Vos, J. 1996. Taxonomy, Ancestry and Speciation of the Endemic Pleistocene Deer of Crete Compared with the Taxonomy, Ancestry and Speciation of Darwin's Finches. In: Reese, 1996, 111-24.] identified eight morphotypes into one genus (
Candiacervus), whereas Capasso Barbato (1992)
[Capasso Barbato L. 1992b. Observations on the biostratigraphy of Cretan Pleistocene vertebrates. Il Quaternario 5 (1), 67-76.] included the larger species,
rethymnensis,
major and
dorothensis, in
Cervus (subgenus
Leptocervus) and the smaller species
ropalophorus and
cretensis in
Megaloceros (subgenus
Candiacervus), implying two different ancestors, and she also did not recognize sp. II with its three morphotypes, instead referring it to
ropalophorus. A new paper published in 2018 rejected the conclusion of Capasso Barbato (1992) and formally named the three morphotypes of De Vos'
Candiacervus sp. II
C. devosi,
C. listeri, and
C. reumeri.
On the nearby island of Karpathos, Kuss[Kuss S.E., 1975. Die pleistozänen Hirsche der ostmediterranen Inseln Kreta, Kasos, Karpatos und Rhodos (Griechenland). Berichte der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu Freiburg im Breisgau, 65 (1 2), 25-79.] found deer which were, in his view, similar to the Cretan deer. Therefore, he grouped his species pygadiensis and cerigensis under the genus Candiacervus, but this needs further confirmation. As long as no direct link with Crete is attested, the deer genus of Karpathos is questioned, and better referred to as Cervus.
They were traditionally considered to be related to the giant Irish elk ( Megaloceros giganteus) with some experts regarding Candiacervus as a subgenus of Megaloceros.
Description
The Cretan deer is represented by no less than eight different
, ranging from dwarf size with
withers height of about to very large with withers height of about ,
spanning a body mass range from in the smallest species
C. ropalophorus to in the largest species
C. major. This is explained as an adaptive radiation following ecological release to occupy available niches. The larger species had proportionally longer legs than mainland deer, while the dwarf species had proportionally shorter legs.
The large size of the only known individual of
C. major may be due to pituitary gigantism, in which case the species may be a synonym of one of the smaller species, perhaps the
red deer sized
C. dorothensis,
which is suggested to weigh around .
The short legs of the dwarf species is suggested to be an adaptation to a goat-like niche of climbing around on rocky terrain and consuming low quality foliage.
[Van der Geer, A.A.E., De Vos, J., Lyras, G., Dermitzakis, M. (2006). New data on the Pleistocene Cretan deer Candiacervus sp. II (Mammalia, Cervinae). In: Kahlke, R.-D., Maul, L. C. & Mazza, P. (Eds.): Late Neogene and Quaternary biodiversity and evolution: Regional developments and interregional correlations. Proceedings of the 18th International Senckenberg Conference (VI International Palaeontological Colloquium in Weimar) vol. II. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 256, 131-137. Frankfurt am Main.] The antler morphology was highly varied, in some of the dwarf species like
C. ropalophorus, the antler was simplified and greatly elongated into a club like structure unique among deer, while others retained a more typical antler morphology. The club-like antlers of
C. ropalophorus and similar forms were probably only used for display rather than combat.
The antler and skull morphology is unknown in the largest species.
Ecology
The fauna of which
Candiacervus is an element is called Biozone II, or the
Mus Zone (after the
Mus genus of mice).
[Mayhew, D.F. 1977. The endemic Pleistocene murids of Crete I-II. Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen B, 80 (3), 182-214.] This fauna inhabited Crete between the late Middle and Late Pleistocene, approximately 0.3 to 0.01 million years ago. It succeeds the
Kritimys biozone, which spanned the Early to early Middle Pleistocene.
[Dermitzakis, M.D. & J. De Vos 1987. Faunal Succession and the Evolution of Mammals in Crete during the Pleistocene. Neues Jahrbuch Geologischer und Paläontologischer Abhandlungen 173 (3), 377-408.]
The typical terrestrial mammalian fauna elements of this biozone aside from Candiacervus are a lineage of mice ( Mus bateae, Mus minotaurus), a dwarf elephant ( Palaeoloxodon creutzburgi), the Cretan otter ( Lutrogale (Isolalutra) cretensis), and the Cretan shrew ( Crocidura zimmermanni).
Despite living in an environment free of large terrestrial predators, the species of Candiacervus exhibited relatively high rates of juvenile mortality, with likely causes of death being accidents and malnutrition.
Extinction
The extinction of
Candiacervus may be due to the arrival of humans at the end of the Pleistocene.
[Sondaar, P.Y., Van der Geer, A.A.E. 2005. Evolution and Extinction of Plio-Pleistocene Island Ungulates. In: Cregut, E. (Ed.): Les ongulés holarctiques du Pliocène et du Pléistocène. Actes Colloque international Avignon, 19-22 septembre. Quaternair, 2005 hors-série 2: 241-256. Paris.] They could have exterminated the deer either actively by hunting, or passively by destroying its habitat. Another option is a gradual depletion of the
ecosystem, as indicated by the finding of a complete herd consisting of individuals suffering a bone disease of an
osteosclerosis nature.
[Dermitzakis M., Van der Geer AAE, Lyras G. 2006. Palaeopathological observations on a population of fossil deer from the Late Pleistocene of Crete. In: Kalofourtis, A., Papadopoulos, N., Spiliopoulou, C., Marabellas, K., Chatzioannou, A.. Volume in Honor of Prof. A.S. Koutselinis, pp. 43–51. in PDF] The impact of
Paleolithic humans is at present still unproven, partly because of the scarcity on published fauna lists from archaeological sites (except for Knossos), partly because of the insecurely dated materials.
In 2018, it was proposed that Asphendou Cave petroglyphs in western Crete depicted Candiacervus, suggesting that humans and Candiacervus chronologically overlapped on the island.
See also
-
Cervus astylodon extinct species of dwarf deer endemic to the Ryukyu Islands of Japan during the Pleistocene.
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