The Polish fossil record of the wolf Canis and the deer Alces, Capreolus, Megaloceros, Dama and Cervus in an evolutionary perspective

Abstract

In this paper, the evolution of wolves and deer is presented as expressed in changes in size and proportions in molars, metapodials and phalanges, which are well represented in the fossil record. This has two advantages: firstly, samples are often large, and secondly this is a taxon-free approach, focussing on the data, rather than presenting the lineages in the form of sequences of names of chrono species or subspecies. This allows more precise documentation of the changes. Occasionally rapid evolutionary changes are found, which mark a time slice and which have biochronologic value. Several canid and deer lineages were studied previously in this way, while others are presented for the first time here, and Polish material is incorporated in all. In some cases, the Polish material helps to improve the timing of the evolutionary events, while in others, the existing information is used to confirm or improve the dating of Polish localities.