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Despite the extensive geological and paleontological searches in the south Levant, no terrestrial fauna of late Neogene age was yet reported. Here, we report the first evidence of “ancient deer”–cervid in the late Miocene (Tortonian) lacustrine section of the Bira Formation at Hagal Stream, Jordan Valley, northern Israel. The section comprises rich assemblage of macrofauna fossils, mostly freshwater mollusks. The mammalian bone was discovered among the macrofauna fossils, and is described as an almost complete left humerus of an adult animal identified as an artiodactyls element probably of a cervid. This terrestrial mammal shares similar paleoenvironmental conditions with other contemporaneous localities, where cervids prevailed with bovids and other taxa. It appears that the freshwater lakes provided favorite habitat for the development of the cervids and possibly other mammals. The specific conditions of preservation of the cervid illuminate the role of post depositional processes (taphonomic constrains) in masking terrestrial fauna remains in the region. Accordingly, further efforts will be devoted to unveil the mute part of the southern Levant–east Mediterranean terrestrial faunistic realm at the end of the Miocene.

87Sr/86Sr isotope and Sr/Ca ratios in lacustrine carbonates were used to reconstruct the hydroclimate conditions in the watershed of Lake Bira that filled during the Tortonian-Messinian the tectonic depressions of the Northern Valleys of Israel in the East Mediterranean-Levant region. 87Sr/86Sr ratios of the Tortonian (ca. 10−8 Ma) carbonates of ∼0.7075 and the great expansion of the lake indicate wet conditions and enhanced supply of freshwater from the regional Mesozoic aquifers. Upon the transition to the Messinian period (ca. 7−6 Ma), the 87Sr/86Sr ratios in the carbonates rose to ∼0.7080−0.7085, reflecting the contribution of Sr from Sahara Desert dusts that came to comprise the regional surface cover. This contribution is also reflected in the silicate fraction of the lacustrine formations that show “granitic-crustal” 87Sr/86Sr ratios of ∼0.711. During the Messinian salinity crisis (5.9−5.6 Ma), the region became arid and Lake Bira possibly dried. Later, during the Lago Mare stage (ca. 5.5−5.3 Ma), the rainfall increased and paludal waterbodies scattered the area of the larger Lake Bira.