Dietary flexibility, niche differentiation and ecological resilience in the Quaternary Cervidae

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Determining diet provides the foundation for understanding palaeoecological dynamics, including resource partitioning and community structure, and can be used to interpret ecological resilience to climatic and environmental change. Dental Microwear Analysis (DMA) is a well-established technique of examining tooth enamel for distinctive microscopic scars made by certain food groups, which provides high-resolution insights into the organism's dietary behaviour during the final weeks before death. This project focuses on the Cervidae (deer), a widespread group in the Quaternary (last 2.6 million years), a period characterised by repeated climate fluctuations and biotic turnovers. This study combines DMA with dental mesowear (providing longer-term dietary signals) alongside seasonality indications (obtained from tooth eruption and occlusal wear) to allow robust inferences of how climate change may affect these species, including the effects of vegetation changes and climate-induced range shifts, which may exacerbate resource competition. Taking a conservation palaeobiology approach, the use of DWA is then combined with species distribution modelling (SDM) for Eld's deer (Rucervus eldii McClelland, 1842). Eld's deer once ranged widely across Southeast Asia, but due to anthropogenic pressures, is now considered Endangered by the IUCN. This project will aim to combine SDM with DWA to understand suitable regions for Eld's deer reintroduction.