Cervus canadensis and C. elaphus : North American subspecies and evaluation of clinal extremes

Abstract

The distinctiveness of each extant North American subspecies of C. elaphus (Linnaeus, 1758) was tested using craniometric data. To provide a context for interpretation of these data, the distinctiveness of North American C. elaphus from Eurasian C. elaphus was reassessed from existing data and conclusions tested. Morphometric variations in size, shape, and sexual dimorphism of adult crania were analyzed using combined male-female and independent male and female principal component analyses. North American subspecies do not represent natural biogeographic variation as earlier presumed. Posterior classification error was highest for subspecies, but was lowest for a set of 6 Operational Taxonomic Units that recognized C. elaphus-Olympic, C. elaphus-northern California and Oregon, C. elaphus-eastern Washington, C. elaphus-Rocky mountain and Cascade mountain, C. elaphus-Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and C. elaphus-centralCalifornia. Males and females differed in their sizes, shapes and affinities to other populations. Intracontinental differences in the kind and amount of sexual dimorphism reinforced the importance of measuring and contrasting male and female features in phylogeographic analyses. Use of existing nomenclature as a blind guide for comparative systematics and ecology and for conservation undermines the quality of research and conservation for C. elaphus in North America. Previous arguments for a single-species circumglobal cline do not take into account sexual dimorphism, behavior and reproduction. Major intercontinental differences do exist between clinal extremes in behavior, in cranial size and sexual dimorphism in addition to semilethal Fi hybridization. All suggest C. elaphus and North American Cervus are different species. Whether the transition is smooth, whether stepped transitions occur, and whether "canadensis" correctly represents the species' distribution need verification.

A Phylogenetic Comparison of Red Deer and Wapiti Using Mitochondrial DNA

“…Lumping the Eastern (C. e. canadensis), Merrium (C. e. merriami), Rocky Mountain (C. e. nelsoni), and Manitoban (C. e. manitobensis) populations found in North America under canadensis (Groves and Grubb, 1987) is supported by this work as well as recent by studies by Schonewald (1994), Polziehn et al (2000). MtDNA sequence differences were unable to differentiate wapiti sampled from the historic range of the Eastern wapiti in Ontario from Rocky Mountain or Manitoban wapiti, whereas Roosevelt wapiti (C. e. roosevelti) from Vancouver Island and Tule wapiti (C. e. nannodes) from California appear to be distinct subspecies (Denome, 1998;.…”

Phylogeny of Wapiti, Red Deer, Sika Deer, and Other North American Cervids as Determined from Mitochondrial DNA

“…However, the white-lipped deer (Przewalskium albirostris), which is accepted as being quite different from deer of the genus Cervus, shares remarkable similarity in the external appearance and antler mass with wapiti (Geist, 1987). While cervids may appear phenotypically similar, Lowe and Gardiner (1989) and Schonewald (1994) found that skeletal measurements placed red deer and wapiti into separate clades. UPGMA analysis of protein data from 28 loci also separated red deer from wapiti (Dratch and Gyllensten, 1985) and the RFLP analysis of complete mtDNA separated a Mongolian wapiti from the North American wapiti (Cronin, 1992).…”

Phylogenetic status of North American wapiti( Cervus elaphus) subspecies

“…A panmictic or clinal distribution was suggested for eastern, Manitoban, and Rocky Mountain wapiti (Bryant and Maser 1982;Schonewald 1994). With a few exceptions, Schonewald (1994) found a decrease in cranial size from north to south and from western Europe to North America.…”