Stanton David W G, Mulville Jacqueline A, Bruford Michael W
School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, The Sir Martin Evans Building, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK
School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University, Humanities Building, Column Drive, Cardiff CF10 3EU, UK.
Proc Biol Sci. 2016 Apr 13;283(1828). doi: 10.1098/rspb.2016.0095.
Red deer (Cervus elaphus) have played a key role in human societies throughout history, with important cultural significance and as a source of food and materials. This relationship can be traced back to the earliest human cultures and continues to the present day. Humans are thought to be responsible for the movement of a considerable number of deer throughout history, although the majority of these movements are poorly described or understood. Studying such translocations allows us to better understand ancient human-wildlife interactions, and in the case of island colonizations, informs us about ancient human maritime practices. This study uses DNA sequences to characterise red deer genetic diversity across the Scottish islands (Inner and Outer Hebrides and Orkney) and mainland using ancient deer samples, and attempts to infer historical colonization events. We show that deer from the Outer Hebrides and Orkney are unlikely to have originated from mainland Scotland, implying that humans introduced red deer from a greater distance. Our results are also inconsistent with an origin from Ireland or Norway, suggesting long-distance maritime travel by Neolithic people to the outer Scottish Isles from an unknown source. Common haplotypes and low genetic differentiation between the Outer Hebrides and Orkney imply common ancestry and/or gene flow across these islands. Close genetic proximity between the Inner Hebrides and Ireland, however, corroborates previous studies identifying mainland Britain as a source for red deer introductions into Ireland. This study provides important information on the processes that led to the current distribution of the largest surviving indigenous land mammal in the British Isles.
赤鹿（Cervus elaphus）在人类社会的历史长河中一直扮演着关键角色，具有重要的文化意义，同时也是食物和材料的来源。这种关系可以追溯到人类最早的文化时期，并一直延续至今。尽管历史上大多数鹿的迁移活动描述甚少或鲜为人知，但人们认为人类在相当数量的鹿的迁移过程中起到了推动作用。研究此类迁移活动有助于我们更好地理解古代人类与野生动物的互动，而对于岛屿殖民的情况而言，则能让我们了解古代人类的航海实践。本研究利用古代鹿的样本，通过DNA序列来描述苏格兰各岛屿（内赫布里底群岛、外赫布里底群岛和奥克尼群岛）以及大陆上赤鹿的遗传多样性，并试图推断历史上的殖民事件。我们发现，外赫布里底群岛和奥克尼群岛的鹿不太可能起源于苏格兰大陆，这意味着人类从更远的地方引入了赤鹿。我们的研究结果也与来自爱尔兰或挪威的起源说法不一致，这表明新石器时代的人们从一个未知的源头进行了长途海上航行到达苏格兰外岛。外赫布里底群岛和奥克尼群岛之间常见的单倍型和低遗传分化意味着这些岛屿有着共同的祖先和/或基因流动。然而，内赫布里底群岛与爱尔兰之间紧密的遗传关系证实了先前的研究，即确定大不列颠大陆是赤鹿引入爱尔兰的源头。这项研究为导致不列颠群岛现存最大的本土陆地哺乳动物当前分布情况的过程提供了重要信息。
