MORPHOMETRIC COMPARISON OF TEETH AND BONES OF MODERN AND FOSSIL CERVIDS TO THE FIRST DEER FROM THE GRAY FOSSIL SITE OF TENNESSEE

Paleontologists at the early Pliocene age Gray Fossil Site (GFS) of Tennessee, have recently recognized the first cervid remains from the site. Cervids are a successful family of ruminants and are particularly important components of ecosystems in North America. The presence of cervid material at the site can tell us more about cervid evolution in the region. The deer specimens recovered from GFS include a maxilla with dP4 and M1, partial humerus, 2 tibiae, astragalus, calcaneum, and 2 proximal phalanges. We have collected and compared linear measurements of the GFS deer to a range of both extant and fossil cervids, including: the early Pliocene Eocoileus gentryorum and Bretzia pseudalces, late Pliocene Odocoileus brachyodontus and Capreolus constantini, early Pleistocene O. virginianus, and extant O. virginianus, O. hemionus, Cervus elaphus, and Capreolus capreolus. Measurements include 4 of the upper dentitions and 18 from postcranial elements, with data gathered from museum specimens and various literature sources. Comparisons show the GFS deer falls within the variation range of the early Pliocene Eocoileus gentryorum from Florida. Data also shows this deer is smaller than the extant mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), extant white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) of Tennessee, the Pliocene Odocoileus brachyodontus from Idaho, and the fossil roe deer Capreolus constantini from Mexico and Russia. The only extant specimens comparable in size to the GFS deer. This is the key deer (O. virginianus clavium). Early Pliocene deer from Tennessee are among the earliest records of cervids in North America and it is important that we carefully examine these deer to understand their role in Appalachian forests through time.