Body mass divergence in sympatric deer species of Pleistocene Crete (Greece)

Abstract

Adaptive radiations play a crucial role in macroevolutionary theory. Insular adaptive radiations of mammals are, however, rare and often insufficiently understood. We here investigate the disparity in body mass in an insular deer genus (Candiacervus), represented with eight species of the Pleistocene of Crete (Aegean Sea, Greece). Our results, taking derived body proportions into account, show the following mass distribution: 27.8 kg (C. ropalophorus), 41.5 kg (C. listeri, C. devosi, C. reumeri), 74.7 kg (C. cretensis), 105.9 kg (C. rethymnensis), 170.1 (C. dorothensis) and 245.4 kg (C. major). The reconstructed body mass range accounts for nearly one quarter of the total range of living and fossil Cervidae. The largest species of Cretan deer (C. major) is approximately eight times heavier than the smallest species (C. ropalophorus). This remarkable degree of body mass divergence, which is unique among Cervidae, apparently evolved under ecological release on a terrestrial predator-free island with limited inter-specific competition