Paleontologists have described an extinct species of the fallow deer genus Dama from fossils found in Spain.
“Traditionally, it was considered that the diversity of the family Cervidae (deer, elk, moose) in the later part of the Middle Pleistocene of Europe was low with only one species at a time that had the size of a fallow deer,” said Dr. Jan van der Made from the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales and colleagues.
“More recently, the existence of a new genus with a species of this size in the Middle and Late Pleistocene of Europe became accepted and descendant of the giant deer Megaloceros savini was shown to have survived into the later part of the Middle Pleistocene of the Manzanares valley with the species Megaloceros matritensis.”
“We describe another new species of deer, Dama celiae, from the same terraces of the Manzanares valley, Madrid, Spain, which adds to the cervid diversity and contributes to our understanding of the evolution of the fallow deer.”
Dama celiae lived in Europe during the Pleistocene epoch, between 365,000 and 295,000 years ago.
The species is characterized by two-pointed antlers with a bifurcation between the brow tine and main beam with a blunt angle and a low position above the burr.
“This new species is the end member of the lineage Dama farnetensis — Dama vallonnetensis — Dama roberti — Dama celiae, which reduced the number of points of the antler from four to two, while the parallel lineage leading to the living fallow deer evolved more complex and palmate antlers,” the paleontologists explained.
The fossilized remains of Dama celiae, including a rib with seven cut marks, were collected from the sand quarries of Pedro Jaro I and Orcasitas in the Manzanares valley.
A huge collection of Acheulean stone tools, such as handaxes, choppers, and flakes, was documented from the same sites.
“Dama celiae was contemporary to Neanderthals and the Acheulean culture,” the researchers noted.
“Cut marks…
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