Historic zoology of the European fallow deer, Dama dama dama: evidence from biogeography, archaeology and genetics

The European fallow deer, Dama dama dama (L., 1758) is one of the most widespread cervids, and its distribution has been heavily affected by man. There is evidence of its artificial distribution beyond the natural homeland carried out by man since prehistory. At present, only one wild autochthonous population is reputed to survive in Anatolia, but its census size is dramatically decreasing. This means that a significant portion of the ancestral genetic diversity of this taxon is seriously threatened. This Turkish stock is also regarded as the main source for all the fallow deer exported by humans since Neolithic times. The aim of the present paper is to investigate the extant genetic, biogeographical, and archaeozoological patterns of the fallow deer dispersed in the insular and continental Mediterranean region. The adoption of a multidisciplinary approach provides the opportunity to advance some new hypotheses regarding the origin of the fallow deer populations which may prove particularly important in terms of the conservation and management of the anthropochorous Mediterranean fauna.