Red deer on islands off the coast of Scotland may have been brought to that region from Europe 5,000 years ago by humans of that distant era.
Scientifically known as Cervus elaphus, these creatures lived on the Scottish isles long ago. New research from the University of Cardiff in the UK suggests these animals may have been delivered to the islands from the European mainland, rather than from Scotland.
This species of deer lives throughout most of Europe, in a greater diversity of habitats than nearly any other large land mammal. Red deer are found in all areas of the European continent, other than northern Scandinavia and Iceland. Scotland alone boasts between 360,000 and 400,000 of the animals.
Stone Age sailors may have brought the animals to the islands in order to provide a steady supply of food, skins and antlers, say the researchers. Red deer are roughly twice the weight of their white-tailed American counterparts. Archaeologists have found evidence that ancient people utilized the animals long ago. Bones of the creatures have been found in trash piles, known as middens, dating from 4,500 years before the modern day.
Red deer are only capable of swimming less than 5 miles, meaning the animals would not have been able to arrive on the outer Scottish islands, even when sea levels were at their lowest during the last ice age.
Analysis of 46 bone samples recovered from ancient remains revealed a total of 14 genetically distinct varieties of animals, or haplotypes. Of these, 10 had never before been seen in previous studies of animals in the region.
"Our data showed that outer island ancient Scottish red deer were unlikely to have originated from mainland Scotland. We found no shared haplotypes between the ancient outer isle and Inner Hebridean/mainland deer," wrote the researchers, led by evolutionary biologist David Stanton.
The findings suggest that the red deer on the outer islands came from a place that researchers say "has not previously been considered."
Mitochondria within the bone samples match the genetic code of red deer currently living in western Europe, suggesting a possible original homeland for the creatures.
The analysis of how red deer may have arrived on islands off the coast of Scotland was profiled in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
