Roe deer
Roe deer | |
---|---|
young male | |
female both in Oxfordshire | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Family: | Cervidae |
Subfamily: | Capreolinae |
Genus: | Capreolus |
Species: | C. capreolus
|
Binomial name | |
Capreolus capreolus | |
Range of roe deer | |
Synonyms | |
Cervus capreolus Linnaeus, 1758 |
The roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), also known as the roe, western roe deer,[3][4] or European roe,[3] is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapted to cold environments. The species is widespread in Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, from Scotland to the Caucasus, and east as far as northern Iran.
Etymology
The English roe is from the
The word is attested on the 5th-century Caistor-by-Norwich astragalus – a roe deer talus bone, written in Elder Futhark as ᚱᚨᛇᚺᚨᚾ, transliterated as raïhan.[7][8]
In the English language, this deer was originally simply called a 'roe', but over time the word 'roe' has become a qualifier, and it is now usually called 'roe deer'.[9]
The
The taxonomic name Capreolus is derived from capra or caprea, meaning 'billy goat', with the diminutive suffix -olus. The meaning of this word in
Taxonomy
The name Capreolus capreolus is a tautonym.[9]
Roe deer populations gradually become somewhat larger as one moves further to the east, peaking in Kazakhstan, then becoming smaller again towards the Pacific Ocean.
This new taxonomic interpretation (
Subspecies
The Integrated Taxonomic Information System, following the 2005 Mammal Species of the World, gives the following subspecies:[3][22]
- Capreolus capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Capreolus capreolus canus Miller, 1910 - Spain
- Capreolus capreolus caucasicus Nikolay Yakovlevich Dinnik, 1910 - A large-sized subspecies found in the region to the north of the Caucasus Mountains; although Mammal Species of the World appears to recognise the taxon, this work bases itself on a chapter by Lister et al. in the 1998 book The European roe deer: the biology of success, which only recognises the name as provisional.[9]
- Capreolus capreolus italicus Enrico Festa, 1925 - Italy
This is just one (
Systematics
Roe deer are most closely related to the water deer, and, counter-intuitively, the three species in this group, called the Capreolini, are most closely related to moose and reindeer.[26]
Although roe deer were once classified as belonging to the Cervinae subfamily, they are now classified as part of the Odocoileinae, which includes the deer from the New World.[23]
Hybrids
Both the European roe deer and
22% of the animals around Moscow carry the mtDNA of the European roe deer and 78% of the Siberian. In the Volgograd region, the European roe deer predominates.[27] In the Stavropol and Dnipropetrovsk regions of Ukraine, most of the deer are Siberian roe deer.[27][29] In northeastern Poland there is also evidence of introgression with the Siberian roe deer, which was likely introduced.[30] In some cases, such as around Moscow, former introductions of European stock is likely responsible.[27]
Description
The roe deer is a relatively small deer, with a body length of 95–135 cm (3 ft 1 in – 4 ft 5 in) throughout its range, and a shoulder height of 63–67 cm (2 ft 1 in – 2 ft 2 in), and a weight of 15–35 kg (35–75 lb).
Bucks in good conditions develop antlers up to 20–25 cm (8–10 in) long with two or three, rarely even four, points. When the male's antlers begin to regrow, they are covered in a thin layer of velvet-like fur which disappears later on after the hair's blood supply is lost. Males may speed up the process by rubbing their antlers on trees, so that their antlers are hard and stiff for the duels during the mating season. Unlike most cervids, roe deer begin regrowing antlers almost immediately after they are shed.[citation needed]
Distribution
The roe deer is found in most areas of Europe, with the exception of northernmost Scandinavia,[32] Iceland, Ireland, and the islands of the Mediterranean Sea.[24] In the Mediterranean region, it is largely confined to mountainous areas, and is absent or rare at low altitudes.[citation needed] There is an early Neolithic fossil record from Jordan.[22]
Belgium
In Flanders the roe deer was mostly confined to the hilly regions in the east, but like in neighbouring countries the population has expanded in recent times. A theory is that the expansion of maize cultivation, which are higher than traditional crops and afford more shelter, has aided their expansion to the west.[33]
Britain
In England and Wales, roe deer have experienced a substantial expansion in their range in the latter half of the 20th century and continuing into the 21st century.
In the 1970s, the species was still completely absent from Wales.[35] Roe deer can now be found in most of rural England except for southeast Kent and parts of Wales; anywhere in the UK mainland suitable for roe deer may have a population.[35] Not being a species that needs large areas of woodland to survive, urban roe deer are now a feature of several cities, notably Glasgow and Bristol, where in particular they favour cemeteries.[citation needed] In Wales, they are least common, but they are reasonably well established in Powys and Monmouthshire.[35]
Iran
Roe deer are found in northern Iran in the
Ireland
Scottish roe deer were introduced to the Lissadell Estate in County Sligo in Ireland around 1870 by Sir Henry Gore-Booth.[41] The Lissadell roe deer were noted for their occasional abnormal antlers and survived in that general area for about 50 years before they died out. According to the National Biodiversity Data Centre, in 2014 there was a confirmed sighting of roe deer in County Armagh. There have been other, unconfirmed, sightings in County Wicklow.[42][43]
The Netherlands
In the Netherlands, roe deer were extirpated from the entirety of the country except for two small areas around 1875. As new forests were planted in the country in the 20th century, the population began to expand rapidly. Although it was a protected species in 1950, the population is no longer considered threatened and it has lost legal protection. As of 2016 there are some 110,000 roe deer in the country. The population is primarily kept in check through the efforts of hunters.[44]
Israel
In 1991, a breeding colony of 27 roe deer coming from France, Hungary and Italy were brought in the Hai-Bar Carmel Reserve.[45] A small number of this roe deer population has been reintroduced to the Carmel Mountains from the Carmel Hai-Bar Nature Reserve, with the first deer being released in 1996.[46] 24 to 29 animals had been released by 2006.[45] Some of the reintroduced animals were hand-reared and could be monitored by their responses to their keeper calls.[45][47]
Ecology
Habitat
This species can utilize a large number of
Behaviour
In order to mitigate risk, roe deer remain within
When alarmed it will bark a sound much like a dog and flash out its white rump patch. Rump patches differ between the sexes, with the white rump patches heart-shaped on females and kidney-shaped on males. Males may also bark or make a low grunting noise. Does (the females) make a high-pitched "pheep" whine to attract males during the rut (breeding season) in July and August. Initially the female goes looking for a mate and commonly lures the buck back into her territory before mating.[citation needed] The roe deer is territorial, and while the territories of a male and a female might overlap, other roe deer of the same sex are excluded unless they are the doe's offspring of that year.[31]
Diet
It feeds mainly on grass, leaves, berries, and young shoots. It particularly likes very young, tender grass with a high moisture content, i.e., grass that has received rain the day before. Roe deer will generally not venture into a field that has or has had livestock in it.[49]
Reproduction
The
Population ecology
A roe deer can live up to 20 years, but it usually does not reach such an age. A normal life span in the wild is seven to eight years,[31] or ten years.[53]
The roe deer population shows irruptive growth. It is extremely fecund and can double its population every year;[53] it shows a retarded reaction to population density with females continuing to have a similar fecundity at high population densities.
Population structure is modified by available nutrition, where populations are irrupting there are few animals over six years old. Where populations are stagnant or moribund, there is huge fawn mortality and a large part of the population is over seven years old. Mortality is highest in the first weeks after birth due to predation, or sometimes farm machinery; or in the first winter due to starvation or disease, with up to 90% mortality.[31]
Community ecology
It is a main prey of the Persian leopard (
The nematode Spiculopteragia asymmetrica infects this deer.[54]
Compared to the other large herbivores and omnivores in Iran, it is a poor disperser of plant seeds, despite consuming relatively more of them.[40]
Uses
The roe deer is a
It is the main source of
Palaeontology
Roe deer are thought to have evolved from a species in the Eurasian genus Procapreolus, with some 10 species occurring from the Late Miocene to the Early Pleistocene, which moved from the east to Central Europe over the millennia, where Procapreolus cusanus (also classified as Capreolus cusanus) occurred.[26][56] It may not have evolved from C. cusanus, however, because the two extant species split from each other 1.375 and 2.75 Myr ago,[57] and the western species first appeared in Europe 600 thousand years ago.[25]
As of 2008 over 3,000 fossil specimens of this species have been recovered from Europe, which affords a good set of data to elucidate the prehistoric distribution. The distribution of the European species has fluctuated often since entering Europe. During the some periods during the
It is thought that during the Middle Ages the two species of roe deer were kept apart due to hunting pressure and an abundance of predators; the different species may have met in the period just before that, and yet, during the Ice Age they were also kept apart.[23]
Conservation
Populations are increasing throughout Europe;
Culture
In the Hebrew Bible
Bambi, the titular character of the book
References
- ^ . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ a b Linnæus, C. (1758). "Cervus capreolus". Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I (in Latin) (10th ed.). Holmiæ (Stockholm): Laurentius Salvius. p. 78.
- ^ a b c d "Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758)". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. United States Government. 17 January 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
- ISBN 1-56098-383-3.
- ^ Harper, Douglas (2020). "Roe". Online Etymological Dictionary. Douglas Harper. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- ^ Johnson, Mary Lynch (1927). A Modern English - Old English Dictionary (PhD Dissertation). Meredith College. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- ^ "Caistor-by-Norwich, astragalus" (in German). RUNES: Forshungsproject der Akadmeia der Wissenschaften zu Gottingen. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- ISBN 87-635-0428-6. pp. 389-91.
- ^ a b c d Lister, A. M.; Grubb, P.; Summer, S. R. M. (1998). "Taxonomy, morphology and evolution of European roe deer". In Andersen, R.; Duncan, P.; Linnell, J. D. C. (eds.). The European roe deer: the biology of success. Oslo: Scandinavian University Press. pp. 23–46.
- Hofmann, Johann Jacob (1698). "Pygargus". Lexicon Universale. Leiden: Jacob Hackium et al.
- ^ Lewis, Charlton Thomas; Short, Charles (1879). A Latin Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- ^ Gaffiot, Félix (1934). "Capraginus". Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français (in French). Paris: Hachette. p. 261.
- ^ Gray, John Edward (1821). "On the natural arrangement of Vertebrose Animals". London Medical Repository. 15: 296–310. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- ^ ?, ?, 1988, Известия Академии наук СССР - Серия биологическая, Vol.15, p.305. ISSN 0002-3329
- ^ Sokolov, Vladimir Evgenievich; Shurkhal, A. V.; Danilkin, A. A.; Podogas, A. V.; Rakitskaya, T. A.; Markov, G. G. (1986). "A comparative analysis of electrophoretic spectra of blood and muscle tissue proteins of European (Capreolus capreolus L.) and Siberian (Capreolus pygargus Pall.) roe deer". Доклады Академии наук СССР (in Russian). 288 (5): 1274–1276.
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- ^ Соколов, В. Е.; Громов, В. С.; Рутовская, М. В. (1987). "Звуковая Сигнализация у Европейской (Capreolus capreolus) и Сибирской (С. pygargus) Косуль". Зоологический Журнал. 66 (3): 430–443. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
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- ^ "Capreolus pygargus (Pallas, 1771)". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. United States Government. 17 January 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
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- ^ OCLC 62265494.
- ^ a b c d Hewison, A. J. M.; Danilkin, A. A. (2001). "Evidence for separate specific status of European (Capreolus capreolus) and Siberian (C. pygargus) roe deer". Mammalian Biology - Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde. 66: 13–21. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
- ^ a b Bogdanowicz, Wieslaw (25 January 2005). "Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758)". Fauna Europaea. European Union. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
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- ^ a b Stubbe, H.; Brukhgol'ts, Z. (1979). "[Experiments of hybridization of the roe and tartarian deer Capreolus capreolus capreolus x Capreolus capreolus pygargus]". Zoologicheskiĭ Zhurnal (in Russian). 58 (9): 1398–1403. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
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- ^ Walker, M.D. 2016. Headhunting; the distribution of deer in Great Britain. British Naturalist, 2: 15-25
- ^ a b c d Kinver, Mark (2013). "Roe deer numbers 'changing woodland ecosystems'". BBC News Online. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
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- ^ Tegner, H. (1951). The Roe Deer: Their History, Habits, and Pursuit. Batchworth Press.
- ^ O’Rourke, Erin; Lysaght, Liam (22 September 2014). "Risk Assessment of Capreolus capreolus" (PDF). nonnativespecies.ie. National Biodiversity Data Centre. p. 6. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
- ^ "Roe Deer" (PDF). Biodiversity Ireland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-05-20. Retrieved 2018-03-29.
- ^ Algemeen Dagblad; Hoera, daar ligt weer een dode otter
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- ^ "Hai-Bar Carmel Nature Reserve". Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
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- ^ Clyde, Falls of (2020-07-09). "Roe deer shenanigans at the Falls of Clyde". Scottish Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
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- ^ "Rare white roe deer spotted in NE China's Jilin". Xinhua. 2020-05-13. Archived from the original on June 1, 2020. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
Further reading
- Prior, Richard (1995). The Roe Deer: Conservation of a Native Species. Swan-Hill Press.