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| Dama celiae van der Made, Rodríguez-Alba, Martos, Gamarra, Rubio-Jara, Panera & Yravedra, 2023 Reconstruction of the Manzanares valley. Other species present are Anas platyrhynchos, Equus ferus, Elephas (Palaeoloxodon) antiquus, Mauremys leprosa, Bison sp., Bos primigenius, and Stephanorhinus hemitoechus. artwork y J. Gamarra twitter.com/Gamarraptor |
Abstract
We describe fossils of a new species of fallow deer, Dama celiae. It is the end member of the lineage Dama farnetensis–D. vallonnetensis–D. roberti–D. celiae, which reduced the number of points of the antler from four to two, while the parallel lineage leading to the living fallow deer evolved more complex and palmate antlers. The fossils are from localities Pedro Jaro I and Orcasitas in the + 25–30-m terrace of the Manzanares river, which is correlated to MIS9 (337–300 ka) and which also yielded fossils of Megaloceros matritensis, a recently named species, end member of a lineage that survived longer than previously believed. A younger terrace of the Manzanares yielded remains of Haploidoceros, a rare deer known from two older localities in southern France and one younger locality in Spain. So many rare deer species in this valley indicates either endemism and a very special environment or that the record of fossil deer is much less known than generally assumed. Until recently, the European Middle Pleistocene record of deer had only one middle-sized species at a time. Now, it appears that there were up to three contemporaneous species of the size of a fallow deer. Acheulean lithic assemblages have been documented from the same sites as Dama celiae. This species was contemporaneous to Neanderthals with Acheulean culture. Cut marks suggest that it was consumed by them and probably was hunted.
Keywords: New species, Cervidae, Evolution, Manzanares valley, Cut marks
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| Antlers of Dama celiae sp. nov. (1) MAN 73/58/PJ/39 + 21 + 26—left antler holotype from Pedro Jaro I: (a) left lateral view, (b) anterior view, (c) dorsal view. (2) MAN 73/58/PJ/24 main beam of right antler of the same individual: dorsal view, placed symmetrically with respect to the left antler. (3) MAN C37/V6—left frontal and basal antler and right frontal with pedicle from Orcasitas: (a) medial view of left antler, (b) lateral view of left antler, and (c) frontal view of both. (4) MAN 73/58/ORC-3—left shed antler from Orcasitas: (a) anterior, (b) lateral, and (c) dorsal views. (5) MAN 73/58/ORC-1—right antler of Dama celiae fom Orcasitas: (a) lateral and (b) medial views. (6) MSI 1962/13/32 + 33—left frontal and antler base + brow tine from Orcasitas. Figure 4 (6). (7) MAN 73/58/ CA K7/7–8—left shed antler from Orcasitas: (a) lateral view, (b) section. Scale bar approximate |
Family Cervidae.
Genus Dama Frisch, 1775.
Species Dama celiae sp. nov.
Type locality and horizon: Arenero de Pedro Jaro I, Manzanares valley, Madrid, Spain. Late Middle Pleistocene, probably MIS9-10.
Derivatio nominis: The species is named in honor of Celia Casado Sarrión.
Diagnosis: Middle-sized Cervidae. Males with antlers with large upwards-directed brow tines and main beams directed backwards and curving laterally and again backwards, without important upward curvature and without signs of further bifurcation, important flattening or palmation. The bifurcation between brow tine and main beam is situated low above the burr.
Differential diagnosis: Dama celiae differs from Dama roberti and other species of Dama in having a long main beam without bifurcation or the flattening that preceedes such a bifurcation (or if it would have had such a bifurcation, it would be situated much further from the burr). Dama celiae differs from Haploidoceros in that the bifurcation between brow tine and main beam is situated much lower above the burr and that the main beam does not curve upward and then foreward. Dama celiae differs from R. eldii in that the main beam of the antler does not curve upward in its distal part and in not having minor tines.
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| Reconstruction of Dama celiae in the Manzanares valley. Other species present are Anas platyrhynchos, Equus ferus, Elephas (Palaeoloxodon) antiquus, Mauremys leprosa, Bison sp., Bos primigenius, and Stephanorhinus hemitoechus. (artwork y J. Gamarra) |
Jan van der Made, Juan José Rodríguez-Alba, Juan Antonio Martos, Jesús Gamarra, Susana Rubio-Jara, Joaquín Panera and José Yravedra. 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.15: 41. DOI: 10.1007/s12520-023-01734-3
