Confirmed archaeological evidence of water deer in Vietnam: relics of the Pleistocene or a shifting baseline?

ABSTRACT: Studies of archaeological and palaeontological bone assemblages increasingly show that the historical distributions of many mammal species are unrepresentative of their longer-term geographical ranges in the Quaternary. Consequently, the geographical and ecological scope of potential conservation efforts may be inappropriately narrow. Here, we consider a case-in-point, the water deer Hydropotes inermis, which has historical native distributions in eastern China and the Korean peninsula. We present morphological and metric criteria for the taxonomic diagnosis of mandibles and maxillary canine fragments from Hang Thung Binh 1 cave in Tràng An World Heritage Site, which confirm the prehistoric presence of water deer in Vietnam. Dated to between 13 000 and 16 000 years before the presen

SUBMITTER: Stimpson CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8242832 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature