Central Asian red deer

The Central Asian Red Deer is a primordial group of Red deer subspecies, which live in central Asia from the Caspian Sea to western China.

Recent DNA studies conducted on hundreds samples from Red Deer and Elk subspecies determined that Red deer and Elk (Wapiti) represent two distinct species. The central Asiatic red deer form a basal group, which is more related to the Western Red deer than to the other monophyletic group, composed of Wapiti, Sika deer and Thorold's deer. Two closely related forms, the Yarkand Deer and the Bactrian deer belong to these group. However, the Kashmir stag another traditionally distinguished subspecies of red deer from Central Asia was not sampled in this study^[1].

Description

In contrast to the Yarkand Deer, which has a light sandy coat, the Bactrian Deer has a darker, grayish-brown coat pattern with darker legs, head, and neck (most noticeable in males) that resembles the coat of the American Elk or Wapitis, which is why this subspecies is sometimes called the Bactrian Wapiti. These deer do not have neck manes, but do have stronger and thicker neck muscles than female deer that may give the appearance of a neck mane. Female deer are slightly smaller than male deer, but the difference in size is not as pronounced as it is in the European Red Deer subspecies.

All subspecies have short tails similar to the short tails of Wapitis. Central Asian Red deer calves are generally born spotted much like European Red Deer calves, and most individuals lose their spots by adulthood. However, adult Bactrian Deer may possess a few spots on the backs of their summer coats. This phenomenon has also been observed in summer coats of the distantly related Manchurian Wapiti (Cervus canadensis xanthopygus) and many other subspecies of Red Deer (Cervus elaphus).

Distribution and habitat

Bactrian deer (Cervus elaphus bactrianus) and Yarkand deer (Cervus elaphus yarkandensis) both live in lowland riparian corridors of mixed deciduous (willow/poplar) vegetation surrounded by deserts. The Bactrian Deer, also known as Bukhara Deer or Bactrian Wapiti, lives in Russian Turkestan (West Turkestan) and adjacent areas in Northern Afghanistan to the west of the Tianshan Mountains. The Yarkand Deer, also known as Tarim Deer or Lop Nor Stag, lives in the Tarim Basin Deciduous Forests and Steppe Ecoregion in the Tarim Basin of China's Xinjiang Province (East Turkestan). The Bactrian and Yarkand Deer which are dependent on the lowland riparian corridors for food and shelter do not migrate but may disperse into adjacent desert areas at night or at times of cooler temperatures.

Predators

Aside from man, the Wolf is probably the most dangerous of predators that most Central Asian Red Deer encounter. Occasionally, the Brown bear and Asiatic black bear will prey on these deer as well. Other possible predators are dholes and snow leopards. Eurasian Lynx and wild boars sometimes prey on the calves. In the past they were also hunted by the now extinct Caspian tiger.

References cited

1. ^ Ludt, Christian J.; Wolf Schroeder, Oswald Rottmann, and Ralph Kuehn. "Mitochondrial DNA phylogeography of red deer (Cervus elaphus)" (pdf). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 31 (2004) 1064–1083. Elsevier. Archived from the original on 2006-11-02. http://web.archive.org/web/20061102212222/http://www.wzw.tum.de/wildbio/paper/cerphyl.pdf#search=%22Barbary%20red%20deer%22. Retrieved 2006-10-06.