Roe deer - WikiHQ

The roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe,

The word is attested on the 5th-century Caistor-by-Norwich astragalusa roe deer talus bone, written in Elder Futhark as , transliterated as raïhan.

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'.

The Koiné Greek name , transliterated pygargos, mentioned in the Septuagint and the works of various writers such as Hesychius, Herodotus and later Pliny, was originally thought to refer to this species (in many European translations of the Bible), although it is now more often believed to refer to the addax. It is derived from the words

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The taxonomic name Capreolus is derived from capra or caprea, meaning 'billy goat', with the diminutive suffix -olus. The meaning of this word in Latin is not entirely clear: it may have meant 'ibex' or 'chamois'. The roe was also known as ' or ' in Latin.

Taxonomy

Linnaeus first described the roe deer in the modern taxonomic system as Cervus capreolus in 1758. Gray was not actually the first to use the name Capreolus, it has been used by other authors before him. Nonetheless, his publication is seen as taxonomically acceptable. Fawns, females and males make different noises between species. This new taxonomic interpretation (circumscription) was first followed in the American book Mammal Species of the World in 1993. Alexander S. Graphodatsky looked at the karyotypy to present more evidence to recognise these Russian and Asian populations as a separate species, now renamed the eastern or Siberian roe deer (C. pygargus). Populations of the roe deer from east of the Khopyor River and Don River to Korea are considered to be this species.

Subspecies

thumb|C. capreolus near Stockholm, Sweden

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System, following the 2005 Mammal Species of the World, gives the following subspecies:

C. c. capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758)
C. c. canus Miller, 1910 - Spain
C. c. caucasicus Nikolay Yakovlevich Dinnik, 1910 - A large 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. The European Union's Fauna Europaea recognised in 2005 two subspecies, but besides the nominate form recognises the Spanish population as the endemic C. c. garganta Meunier, 1983.

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.

Although roe deer were once classified as belonging to the Cervinae subfamily, they are now classified as part of the Capreolinae, which includes the deer that developed in the New World. In line with Haldane's rule, female hybrids of the two taxa are fertile, while male hybrids are not. Hybrids are much larger than normal and a Cesarean section was sometimes needed to birth the fawns, becoming larger than their mothers at the age of 4–5 months. F1 hybrid males may be sterile, but backcrosses with the females are possible. In northeastern Poland there is also evidence of introgression with the Siberian roe deer, which was likely an Introduced species. In some cases, such as around Moscow, former introductions of European stock is likely responsible. In healthy populations, where population density is restricted by hunting or predators, bucks are slightly larger than does. Under other conditions, males can be similar in size to females, or slightly smaller.

Distribution

The roe deer is found in most areas of Europe, with the exception of northernmost Scandinavia, Iceland, Ireland, and the islands of the Mediterranean Sea.

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. This increase in population also appears to be affecting woodland ecosystems. At the start of the 20th century, they were almost extirpated in Southern England, but since then have hugely expanded their range, mostly due to restrictions and decrease in hunting, increases in forests and reductions in arable farming, changes in agriculture (more winter cereal crops), a massive reduction in extensive livestock husbandry, and a general warming climate over the past 200 years. Furthermore, there are no large predators in Britain. In some cases, roe deer have been introduced with human help. In 1884 roe deer were introduced from Württemberg in Germany into the Thetford Forest, and these spread to populate most of Norfolk, Suffolk, and substantial parts of Cambridgeshire. In southern England, they started their expansion in Sussex (possibly from enclosed stock in Petworth Park) and from there soon spread into Surrey, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Hampshire, and Dorset, and for the first half of the 20th century, most roe deer in Southern England were to be found in these counties. By the end of the 20th century, they had repopulated much of southern England and had expanded into Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Lincolnshire and South Yorkshire, and had even spread into Wales from the Ludlow area where an isolated population had appeared. At the same time, the surviving population in Scotland and the Lake District had pushed further south beyond Yorkshire and Lancashire and into Derbyshire and Humberside.

In the 1970s, the species was still completely absent from Wales.

Ireland

Scottish roe deer were introduced to the Lissadell Estate in County Sligo in Ireland around 1870 by Sir Henry Gore-Booth. 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.

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.

Israel

In 1991, a breeding colony of 27 roe deer coming from France, Hungary and Italy were brought in the Hai-Bar Carmel Reserve. 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. 24 to 29 animals had been released by 2006.<!--===Introduced range===

Please do not add anything about the island of Pohnpei, this is nonsense added by an editor as a scam/joke in 2010. It has now spread across the internet, but it is FAKE!!!-->

Ecology

Habitat

thumb|Ultrasonography of the uterine pregnancy of a roe deer in Bulgaria

This species is found across multiple habitats, including open agricultural areas and above the tree line, but a requisite factor is access to food and cover. It retreats to dense woodland, especially among conifers, or bramble scrub when it must rest, but it is very opportunistic and a hedgerow may be good enough. Roe deer in the southern Czech Republic live in almost completely open agricultural land. A pioneer species commonly associated with biotic communities at an early stage of succession, during the Neolithic period in Europe when farming humans began to colonise the continent from the Middle East, the roe deer was abundant, taking advantage of areas of forest or woodland cleared by Neolithic farmers.

Behaviour

In order to mitigate risk, roe deer remain within refuge habitats (such as forests) during the day. They are likelier to venture into more open habitats at night and during crepuscular periods when there is less ambient activity. In 1956 it was speculated based on some field evidence that they choose where to form rings around plants with ergot mould, but this has not been substantiated further. Males may also use their antlers to shovel around fallen foliage and soil as a way of attracting a mate. Roebucks enter rutting inappetence during the July and August breeding season. Females are monoestrous and after delayed implantation usually give birth the following June, after a 10-month gestation period, typically to two spotted fawns of opposite sexes, weighing . The fawns remain hidden in long grass from predators; they are suckled by their mother several times a day for around three months. Young female roe deer can begin to reproduce when they are around six months old. During the mating season, a male roe deer may mount the same doe several times over a duration of several hours.

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, 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.

Compared to the other large herbivores and omnivores in Iran, it is a poor disperser of plant seeds, despite consuming relatively more of them.

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. 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, and the western species first appeared in Europe 600 thousand years ago.

Bambi, the titular character of the book Bambi, A Life in the Woods and its sequel Bambi's Children was originally a roe deer. When the story was adapted to the animated film Bambi by Walt Disney Pictures, the main character was changed to a white-tailed deer.

Albino roe deer were exceedingly rare in history, and they were regarded as national treasures or sacred animals in ancient times in China.

References

External links

Roe Deer Research Group
Roe Deer photos, distribution and information from Portugal
A Roe Deer path with tracks through a Scottish pine plantation