Phylogeography of the Tyrrhenian red deer (Cervus elaphus corsicanus) resolved using ancient DNA of radiocarbon-dated subfossils

Abstract

We present ancient mitochondrial DNA analyses of 31 complete cytochrome b gene sequences from subfossil red deer remains from the Tyrrhenian islands (Corsica and Sardinia) and mainland Italy in a European-wide phylogeographic framework. Tyrrhenian and North African red deer, both going back to human introductions, were previously the only red deer to harbour the mitochondrial B lineage whose origin, however, remained unknown. Our ancient Italian samples from the central part of the peninsula that were radiocarbon-dated to an age of ca. 6300 to 15 600 cal BP all showed B haplotypes, closely related or even identical to those found on Sardinia. Genetic diversity in the mainland population was considerably higher than on the islands. Together with palaeontological evidence our genetic results identify the Italian Peninsula as the ultimate origin of the B lineage and thus the Tyrrhenian and North African red deer. This is in line with previous biogeographic findings that uncovered distinct intraspecific phylogeographic lineages in Italian mammals, underlining Italy’s status as a hotspot of European mammalian diversity.

Subspecies dynamics in space and time: A study of the red deer complex using ancient and modern DNA and morphology

“…() and Doan, Zachos, et al. (), and labelled A‐D. These groups can be identified within our data set, which however reveals greater diversity (Appendix S5), as does the recent analysis of Doan, Mackiewicz, et al.…”

“…() and Doan, Zachos, et al. () data sets. As sister‐groups to these clades, however, are a previously unrecognized, apparently extinct pair of haplogroups comprising ancient specimens (the latest at c .…”

“…(). Interestingly, however, ancient Holocene Serbian specimens, in an area of SE Europe where modern deer have been considered “maraloid” in appearance (and are coloured orange in Figures & ), fall in the D haplogroup, but modern deer throughout this region are largely of the C haplogroup which extends even into the maral of western Anatolia (Doan, Zachos, et al., ; Skog et al., ), suggesting relatively recent interbreeding.…”

“…The maral clade in our analysis, including modern Italian specimens, corresponds wholly or in part to clade D; the two poorly supported subclades may possibly equal W4 and W5 ofDoan, Mackiewicz, et al (2017). Interestingly, however, ancient Holocene Serbian specimens, in an area of SE Europe where modern deer have been considered "maraloid" in appearance (and are coloured orange inFigures 1 & 5), fall in the D haplogroup, but modern deer throughout this region are largely of the C haplogroup which extends even into the maral of western Anatolia(Doan, Zachos, et al, 2017;Skog et al, 2009), suggesting relatively recent interbreeding.…”

Imperial trophy or island relict? A new extinction paradigm for Père David's deer: a Chinese conservation icon

“…We consider it likely that the late-surviving Hainan population may therefore have been the wild source population for the nineteenth-century Beijing herd, although we note that in the absence of genetic data from extinct mainland Chinese populations, we cannot rule out the possibility of generally low intraspecific variation across allopatric milu populations, so that the Hainan population might not be the only one that was phylogenetically close to the Beijing herd. There is evidence of ancient human transportation of other continental deer species to several island systems [ 42 – 45 ], raising the possibility that the Hainan milu population could itself have been originally introduced from mainland China. However, although this possibility cannot be discounted, ancient deer introductions were typically made to islands that lacked native large deer, and the local presence on Hainan of other surviving deer species that are considered native [ 17 ], together with the low cultural and economic importance of the island during most of China's history, makes it more likely that milu were native to Hainan.…”