Nathurhistorisches Museum Basel, Augustinergasse 2, 4001, Basel, Switzerland.
ICTA-ICP, Edifici Z, c/de les columnes s/n, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
Sci Rep. 2017 Oct 13;7(1):13176. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-12848-9.
Deer are an iconic group of large mammals that originated in the Early Miocene of Eurasia (ca. 19 Ma). While there is some consensus on key relationships among their members, on the basis of molecular- or morphology-based analyses, or combined approaches, many questions remain, and the bony labyrinth has shown considerable potential for the phylogenetics of this and other groups. Here we examine its shape in 29 species of living and fossil deer using 3D geometric morphometrics and cladistics. We clarify several issues of the origin and evolution of cervids. Our results give new age estimates at different nodes of the tree and provide for the first time a clear distinction of stem and crown Cervidae. We unambiguously attribute the fossil Euprox furcatus (13.8 Ma) to crown Cervidae, pushing back the origin of crown deer to (at least) 4 Ma. Furthermore, we show that Capreolinae are more variable in bony labyrinth shape than Cervinae and confirm for the first time the monophyly of the Old World Capreolinae (including the Chinese water deer Hydropotes) based on morphological characters only. Finally, we provide evidence to support the sister group relationship of Megaloceros giganteus with the fallow deer Dama.
鹿是一类标志性的大型哺乳动物，起源于欧亚大陆的早中新世（约 1900 万年前）。虽然基于分子或形态学的分析，或综合方法，对其成员之间的关键关系存在一些共识，但仍有许多问题存在，而且骨迷路在这个和其他群体的系统发育学方面显示出了相当大的潜力。在这里，我们使用 3D 几何形态测量学和系统发育学来研究 29 种现存和化石鹿的形状。我们澄清了鹿科动物起源和进化的几个问题。我们的结果在树的不同节点给出了新的年龄估计，并首次明确区分了鹿科的茎和冠部。我们明确地将化石 Euprox furcatus（1380 万年前）归为鹿科的冠部，将鹿科的起源推至（至少）400 万年前。此外，我们表明，骨迷路形状的变化在叉角羚亚科中比在鹿亚科中更为多样，并首次仅基于形态特征确认了旧大陆叉角羚亚科（包括中国水鹿 Hydropotes）的单系性。最后，我们提供了证据支持巨型鹿 Megaloceros giganteus 与黇鹿 Dama 的姐妹群关系。
