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- Baker, Karis H., et al.
(author)
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The 10,000-year biocultural history of fallow deer and its implications for conservation policy
- 2024
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In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 1091-6490. ; 121:8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Over the last 10,000 y, humans have manipulated fallow deer populations with varying outcomes. Persian fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica) are now endangered. European fallow deer (Dama dama) are globally widespread and are simultaneously considered wild, domestic, endangered, invasive and are even the national animal of Barbuda and Antigua. Despite their close association with people, there is no consensus regarding their natural ranges or the timing and circumstances of their human-mediated translocations and extirpations. Our mitochondrial analyses of modern and archaeological specimens revealed two distinct clades of European fallow deer present in Anatolia and the Balkans. Zooarchaeological evidence suggests these regions were their sole glacial refugia. By combining biomolecular analyses with archaeological and textual evidence, we chart the declining distribution of Persian fallow deer and demonstrate that humans repeatedly translocated European fallow deer, sourced from the most geographically distant populations. Deer taken to Neolithic Chios and Rhodes derived not from nearby Anatolia, but from the Balkans. Though fallow deer were translocated throughout the Mediterranean as part of their association with the Greco-Roman goddesses Artemis and Diana, deer taken to Roman Mallorca were not locally available Dama dama, but Dama mesopotamica. Romans also initially introduced fallow deer to Northern Europe but the species became extinct and was reintroduced in the medieval period, this time from Anatolia. European colonial powers then transported deer populations across the globe. The biocultural histories of fallow deer challenge preconceptions about the divisions between wild and domestic species and provide information that should underpin modern management strategies.
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- Gray, Howard W. I., et al.
(author)
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Comparative biogeography and the evolution of population structure for bottlenose and common dolphins in the Indian Ocean
- 2021
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In: Journal of Biogeography. - : Wiley. - 0305-0270 .- 1365-2699. ; 48:7, s. 1654-1668
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aim: In the marine environment, where there are few physical boundaries to gene flow, there is often nevertheless intraspecific diversity with consequences for effective conservation and management. Here, we compare two closely related dolphin species with a shared distribution in the Indian Ocean (IO) to better understand the biogeographic drivers of their population structure.Location: Global oceans and seas with a focus on the Indian OceanTaxon: Tursiops sp. and Delphinus sp.Methods: Bayesian, ordination, assignment, statistical and phylogenetic analyses to assess phylogeography, connectivity and population structure using microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA genetic markers.Results: Both Tursiops sp. and Delphinus sp. showed population structure across the western IO and, in each case, populations in the Arabian Sea (off India, Pakistan and Oman) were most differentiated. Comparisons with other populations worldwide revealed independent lineages in this geographic region for both genera. For T. aduncus, (for which multiple sites within the IO could be compared), Bayesian modelling best supported a scenario of expansion southwards following a bottleneck event resulting in differentiation between the northern and western IO. For Delphinus, the same pattern is even more pronounced. Populations in the Arabian Sea region of the north-western IO show genetic isolation for each of the two genera, consistent with other studies of cetacean species in this region.Main conclusions: We propose that changes in the intensity of the southwest monsoon during the climate cycles of the Pleistocene could have affected regional patterns of productivity and represent an important biogeographic driver promoting the observed patterns of differentiation and population dynamics seen in our focal species. Patterns of population genetic structure are consistent with phenotypic differences, suggesting an influence from distinct habitats and resources, and emphasising the need for effective conservation measures in this geographic region.
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