CONSERVATION ECOLOGY IN THE IRVINGTONIAN: WHITE-TAILED DEER (ODOCOILEUS VIRGINIANUS) FROM THE PLEISTOCENE (LATE IRVINGTONIAN) CAMELOT LOCAL FAUNA, DORCHESTER COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA

The expansion of coyotes into South Carolina during the 1970’s and their subsequent population increase has brought White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) management issues to the forefront in the state. With the added mortality brought by coyotes, overharvest has become a management problem. A key question is what was the population like before human harvest was a factor in deer mortality? The Camelot local fauna from southeastern South Carolina presents an ideal chance to address this question. The fauna has a relatively large White-tailed Deer sample (MNI = 17), existed under a climate regime similar to today, but is late Irvingtonian (ca. 400 ka) in age and thus predates the entry of humans into North America. The Camelot deer were compared with modern deer from two modern management endpoints: the Savannah River Site (SRS), SC, where deer are the largest herbivore, and Ossabaw Island, GA, where deer compete with other large ungulates. The Camelot deer were significantly smaller than modern deer from the SRS and comparable in size to stunted modern deer from Ossabaw Island, GA. The Camelot and Ossabaw samples also have a similar ratio of adults to fawns. In Camelot there is evidence of only one taxon that preyed on deer (Canis armbrusteri), but multiple herbivorous competitors. a situation similar to Ossabaw Island. The addition of coyotes to modern deer populations in the southeast would likely depress population density and lead to increased individual body size.