Morphometric characterization of Mesola red deerCervus elaphus italicus(Mammalia: Cervidae)

Abstract

The red deer of the Bosco Mesola Nature Reserve (northern Italy) constitute a population with relevance for zoogeography, genetics and conservation. We have analysed morphometrics of Mesola red deer (body weight, craniometry, stature, antler conformation and size) over a c. 30 year period , to (i) describe in detail their physical traits, (ii) compare them with those of other European populations and (iii) assess the effects of conservation actions on biometric measures of individuals. Mesola red deer were on average 15-50% lighter and at least 8-15% smaller than other European red deer. The sexual size dimorphism was low and significant only for adults. Body growth rate was also slower than that of the other European populations. While the average relative production of antler bone tissue appeared not to be different from that of other European red deer, antlers of Mesola stags were small and scarcely branched, with short trez tines. Bez tine and crown were rare and present almost exclusively in fully mature stags (2.2 and 3.6% of antler beams in adult stags, respectively). Environmental improvements led to significant favourable effects on antler size and complexity. All observed individuals had a distinct but slight spotting of the summer coat. These morphological characteristics, coupled with genetic peculiarities, make the Mesola red deer unique, deserving special protection.

Body measurements from selective hunting: biometric features of red deer (Cervus elaphus) from Northern Apennine, Italy

“…Also the occurrence of bez tine has decreased, passing from 82.5% to 50%, while the occurrence of palmate antlers increased from 10% to 48%. Antler beam length is greater than in adult deer from small-bodied red deer populations of Sardinia (Caboni et al 2006), Mesola (Mattioli & Ferretti 2014), south-eastern Spain (Azorit et al 2002).…”

“…Only few studies have described some morphological traits of red deer populations living in sub-Mediterranean areas. In Italy, the few investigations about this topic concerned areas with peculiar habitat features, as the Alps (Brugnoli 1993;Mattiello et al 2003), otherwise they referred to spatially or genetically isolated populations, as C. e. corsicanus (Beccu 1989) and Mesola red deer C. e. italicus (Mattioli & Ferretti 2014).…”

The Application of 3D Imaging as an Appropriate Method of Wildlife Craniometry: Evaluation of Accuracy and Measurement Efficiency

“…Measurements of 2D dimensions, such as of length or width, have proven very useful and have become common in human or veterinary cardiology and angiography (e.g., in measuring stenoses of important arteries for use in therapy) [ 33 ], as well as in dentistry and implantology [ 57 ]. Even today, many craniometric studies use a digital caliper with an accuracy ranging from 0.01 to 0.5 mm as the primary measuring method [ 41 , 47 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 ]. In the case of a 3D scanner, when reconstructing the roe deer antlers [ 63 ], rotator cuff [ 64 ], and vertebrae [ 65 ], the accuracy ranges from 0.01 to 0.1 mm; for human skulls [ 66 ], the tissue equivalent phantom [ 67 ] and elbow joint [ 68 ], is 0.33–1.2 mm in a CT scanner.…”