Cervus

Cervus is a genus of deer that primarily are native to Eurasia, although one species occurs in northern Africa and another in North America. In addition to the species presently placed in this genus, it has included a whole range of other species now commonly placed in other genera. Additionally, the species-level taxonomy is in a state of flux.

Cervus

Uncredited · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
CerviniPBDB
Diet
grazerPBDB
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Cervidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Artiodactyla

Time the record covers

At least 7.2 million years on record.

The record covers at least 7.246 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 486 occurrencesMiocene — about 17 of 486 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 46 of 486 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 389 of 486 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 1 occurrence10–9.4 Mya — about 1 occurrence9.4–8.6 Mya — about 1 occurrence8.6–7.8 Mya — about 1 occurrence7.8–7.1 Mya — about 1 occurrence7.1–6.3 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 7 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 10 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 16 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 30 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 58 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 63 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 285 occurrences7.246 Mya11.7 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

486 occurrences of Cervus on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

486 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

40 formations

Cromer Forest Bed — 52.46°N, 1.73°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.94°N, 1.25°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.88°N, 1.44°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.92°N, 1.34°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.42°N, 1.72°EPinjor — 32.41°N, 75.61°EPinjor — 30.99°N, 76.68°EUnterer Travertin — 50.95°N, 11.38°EUnterer Travertin — 50.98°N, 11.31°EBalta sands — 47.97°N, 29.30°EBalta sands — 48.69°N, 31.00°EBalta sands — 48.58°N, 28.98°EGerakarou — 40.68°N, 23.15°EGerakarou — 40.52°N, 23.44°EYuanmou — 24.87°N, 100.94°EKairubak suite — 38.60°N, 69.11°EKairubak suite — 37.33°N, 68.97°ENagrota — 32.70°N, 74.85°EForest Bed — 52.85°N, 1.47°EPlatanochori — 40.53°N, 23.37°ETatrot — 32.02°N, 73.79°ETarija — 21.53°S, 64.73°WBabladanga — 23.50°N, 87.00°EPalm Spring — 32.90°N, 117.10°WCape Deceit — 66.60°N, 161.90°WFloral — 52.21°N, 106.58°WLa Habra — 33.60°N, 117.80°WAmerican Falls Lake Bed E — 42.80°N, 112.90°WBaza — 37.72°N, 2.47°WDursunlu — 38.28°N, 31.91°EKhapry — 47.24°N, 39.71°EBenot Ya'aqov — 33.13°N, 35.62°EOberer Travertin I — 50.97°N, 11.35°EItokina — 27.50°N, 129.00°E

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The named rock units Cervus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 16 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 422 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Cervus and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Cervus and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

1,398 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 427 sites for Cervus, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

234 references

Each of the 486 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 222 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Cervus

Credit
nobody named on the record
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Photogrammetry

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Lucanus cervus · ypm:ent:626274

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itCervini through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Linnaeus 1758