''Cervavitus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of prehistoric

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the ...

that lived from the late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" ...

(

Vallesian The Vallesian age is a period of geologic time (11.6–9.0 Ma) within the Miocene used more specifically with European Land Mammal Ages. It precedes the Turolian age and follows the Astaracian age. The so-called Vallesian Crisis resulted in the e ...

age) to the Early

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the '' Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed ...

(

Villafranchian Villafranchian age ( ) is a period of geologic time (3.5–1.0 Ma) spanning the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene used more specifically with European Land Mammal Ages. Named by Italian geologist Lorenzo Pareto for a sequence of terrestria ...

age) in parts of Western and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and China.

Description

It is characterized by having thorny antlers finished in two or three points, brachyodont teeth, molars with a primitive fold (known as the "''

Palaeomeryx ''Palaeomeryx'' is an extinct genus of Artiodactyla, of the family Palaeomerycidae, endemic to Europe and Asia from the Miocene epoch, 16.9 – 7.25 Ma, existing for approximately . Taxonomy ''Palaeomeryx'' was named by von Meyer (1834). ...

fold") and complete lateral metacarpals on their feet, which would serve to move through slope areas.

Taxonomy

Due to its particular position in the systematics and phylogeny of deer, is considered to form part of the first branches of cervids more advanced than the muntiacines, and perhaps is closely related to the branch that would give rise to the modern genus ''

Cervus ''Cervus'' is a genus of deer that primarily are native to Eurasia, although one species occurs in northern Africa and another in North America. In addition to the species presently placed in this genus, it has included a whole range of other s ...

'', although it has traditionally been classified as part of a separate subfamily called Pliocervinae.

Evolution

''Cervavitus'' probably evolved in forested areas of Eastern Europe and then disperse during the Miocene to Western Europe and East Asia, taking advantage of the moist forests of Eurasia at the time, but the progressive aridity of parts of Asia and Europe since the Pliocene and the beginning of the Pleistocene, as a result of changes like the elevation of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over ...

, forced these deer to take refuge in southern China, where they evolved or were replaced by the modern deer genera '' Rusa'' and ''

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

''.

References

*Khomenko, J., 1913: La faune méotique du Village Taraklia du district de Bendery. ''Annuaire géologique et minéralogique de la Russie'', 15: 107–143. *Zdansky, O. (1925). Fossile Hirsche Chinas. ''Palaeontologica Sinica'', C, 2: 1-94. *Teilhard de Chardin, P. & Trassaert, M. (1937). Pliocene Camelidae, Giraffidae and Cervidae of S.E. Shansi. ''Palaeontologica Sinica'', n. ser. C, 102: 1-56. *Vislobokova, I.A. (1990). The Fossil Deer of Eurasia. ''Sciences Press'', Moscow, 208 pp *Vislobokova, I.A. (2007). New data on late Miocene mammals of Kohfidisch, Austria. ''Paleontological Journal'', 41: 451–460. doi:10.1134/S0031030107040119 *Petronio, C.; Krakhmalnaya, T.; Bellucci, L. & Di Stefano G. (2007). Remarks on some Eurasian Pliocervines: Characteristics, evolution, and relationships with the tribe Cervini. ''Geobios'', 40: 113–130. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2006.01.002

External links

Cervavitus
on Palaeobiology Database Prehistoric deer Miocene even-toed ungulates Pliocene even-toed ungulates Prehistoric even-toed ungulate genera {{Paleo-eventoedungulate-stub