Eemian palaeogenetics demonstrates loss of diversity in modern fallow deer (<i>Dama dama</i>)

Abstract

The European fallow deer (Dama dama) is a widely distributed cervid that has experienced extensive human management since the Neolithic. Although several studies have examined relationships among present-day and Holocene populations, molecular data from Pleistocene fallow deer remain extremely limited, leaving a gap in our understanding of the species’ evolutionary history. Here, we retrieved 10 mitochondrial genomes from a ∼120-thousand-year-old last interglacial (Eemian) fallow deer population from the Neumark-Nord archaeological sites in central Germany. We find that modern European fallow deer throughout their western Eurasian distribution are closely related and form a single clade sister to the Eemian samples. Likewise, modern diversity is low compared to other cervids, whereas this single Eemian assemblage displays comparable levels to that of the entire modern range. Our results suggest that Neumark-Nord mitochondrial lineages were part of broader Late Pleistocene diversity, of which only one part appears to have persisted into the Holocene. Subject areas: Zoology, Phylogenetics, Paleobiology, Paleogenetics