Fallow deer

Name

The name fallow is derived from the deer's pale brown colour. The Latin word dāma or damma, used for roe deer, gazelles, and antelopes, lies at the root of the modern scientific name, as well as the German Damhirsch, French daim, Dutch damhert, and Italian daino. In Serbo-Croatian, the name for the fallow deer is jelen lopatar ("shovel deer"), due to the form of its antlers. The Modern Hebrew name of the fallow deer is he (יחמור).

Description

The Persian fallow deer is the larger of the two living species, with an average body mass around 70–140 kg, and a shoulder height around 80-110 cm with the European fallow deer having an average body mass around 35–80 kg. The living fallow deer species have antlers that have flattened (palmate) ends, with the palmate section being somewhat narrower in the antlers of Persian fallow deer. During the summer, European fallow deer have a reddish pelt with white spots along the back and the sides (flank), while during the winter, they have a grey pelt that lacks or has less visible spots.

Ecology

The diet of the European fallow deer has been described as highly flexible, able to adapt to local conditions. In Britain, it has been observed to primarily feed on grass in summer and acorns and other mast during the autumn and early winter, as well as on shrubs and trees.

Taxonomy and evolution

The genus includes two extant species:

Extant species

|authority-name=Linnaeus |authority-year=1758 |authority-not-original=yes |range-image=File:Dama dama map.png |range-image-size=180px |iucn-status= LC

|authority-name=Brooke|authority-year= 1875 |authority-not-original=yes |range-image=File:Dama mesopotamica history distribution in the 19 century.png |range-image-size=180px |iucn-status= EN

Some taxonomists classify the Persian fallow deer as a subspecies (D. d. mesopotamica), while others, such as the IUCN, treat it as a separate species (D. mesopotamica). Based on genetic evidence, Dama is considered to be closest living relative of the extinct genus Megaloceros. The circumscription of the genus is uncertain, with some authors choosing to include taxa that are otherwise placed in the genus Pseudodama, which may be ancestral to Dama.

The earliest species of Dama appeared around the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary about 2.6 million years ago, or around the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene approximately 0.8 million years ago, depending on the species included in the genus. The relationships of most Dama species to each other and to other fossil deer are controversial, with no overall consensus on their relationships, aside the close relationship of D. clactoniana with the living Dama species. The earliest Dama species lack palmate (broad and flattened) antlers, with this trait only developing in D. pelleponesica, D. clactoniana, and the two living species.

Extinct species, based on van der Made et al. 2023:

• Dama nestii known from the Early Pleistocene of Europe, also assigned to the genus Pseudodama.
• Dama vallonnetensis known from the Early Pleistocene of Europe, also assigned to Pseudodama.
• Dama farnetensis known from the Early Pleistocene of Europe, also assigned to Pseudodama.
• Dama pelleponesica known from the early Middle Pleistocene of Greece, with similar remains referred to as Dama aff. pelleponesica known from the late Middle Pleistocene of Azokh Cave in Azerbaijan. Species not universally recognised as valid.
• Dama roberti known from the early Middle Pleistocene of Europe.
• Dama celiae known from the Middle Pleistocene of Spain
• Dama clactoniana, known from the late Middle Pleistocene of Europe, thought to be the ancestor of the two living species. Relationships of Dama to other deer species based on mitochondrial DNA.{{clade|{{clade

References

References

1. {{Cite GBIF
2. "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species".
3. Khademi TG. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318815709_A_review_of_the_biological_status_of_Persian_fallow_deer_Dama_mesopotamica_a_precious_and_endangered_animal_species_in_Iran#:~:text=It%20has%20a%20very%20strong,with%20their%20own%20homogeneity%20structure. A review of the biological status of Persian fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica), a precious and endangered animal species in Iran.] J Middle East Appl Sci Technol (JMEAST), 2014(18): p. 638–42.
4. Khademi TG. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318815709_A_review_of_the_biological_status_of_Persian_fallow_deer_Dama_mesopotamica_a_precious_and_endangered_animal_species_in_Iran#:~:text=It%20has%20a%20very%20strong,with%20their%20own%20homogeneity%20structure. A review of the biological status of persian fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica), a precious and endangered animal species in Iran.] J Middle East Appl Sci Technol (JMEAST), 2014(18): p. 638–42.
5. Thirgood, Simon Jeremy (1990) [https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/461000/ Variation in social systems of fallow deer]. ''University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis''.
6. (April 2022). "Tell me what you eat and I'll tell you…where you live: an updated review of the worldwide distribution and foraging ecology of the fallow deer (Dama dama)". Mammalian Biology.
7. Jackson, John. (April 1977). "The annual diet of the Fallow deer (Dama dama) in the New Forest, Hampshire, as determined by rumen content analysis". Journal of Zoology.
8. {{MSW3
9. (July 25, 2015). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Dama mesopotamica".
10. (2015). "Mitochondrial Genomes of Giant Deers Suggest their Late Survival in Central Europe". Scientific Reports.
11. (2023-08-09). "Late Early to late Middle Pleistocene medium-sized deer from the Italian Peninsula: implications for taxonomy and biochronology". Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments.
12. (April 2023). "The fallow deer Dama celiae sp. nov. with two-pointed antlers from the Middle Pleistocene of Madrid, a contemporary of humans with Acheulean technology". Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.
13. (2022-08-16). "A Pleistocene Fight Club revealed by the palaeobiological study of the Dama-like deer record from Pantalla (Italy)". Scientific Reports.
14. (2022). "Vigna Nuova: the first Middle Villafranchian mammal assemblage from the Valdichiana Basin, Perugia (Italy)". Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana.
15. (June 2013). "Dama roberti, a new species of deer from the early Middle Pleistocene of Europe, and the origins of modern fallow deer". Quaternary Science Reviews.
16. (2024-01-29). "Antler Allometry, the Irish Elk and Gould Revisited". Evolutionary Biology.