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M. Masseti: Homogenisation and the loss of biodiversity of mammals of the Mediterranean islands 191

avoided by keeping under control the self-referencing
aspect that often characterises certain genetic studies.
In any case, modern research is beginning to reveal that
the adoption of a multidisciplinary approach provides the
opportunity to advance intriguing hypotheses which may
prove particularly important in terms of the study, con-
servation and management of the extant Mediterranean
insular fauna (cf. Hajji et al. 2007, Masseti et al. 2008).
Another, and in no way secondary, aspect is the evalu-
ation of the anthropozoological and zooethnographical
importance of the ancient anthropochorous populations
of the Mediterranean islands.

The Rhodian deer. Concluding remarks

The latest techniques for investigating population genet- Figure 25 The latest techniques for investigating population
ics have shown that the fallow deer, Dama dama dama genetics have shown that the fallow deer, Dama dama dama (L.
(L. 1758), which still survive on the island of Rhodes 1758), which still survive on the island of Rhodes (Dodecanese,
(Dodecanese, Greece) are very special, being of ancient Greece) are very special, being of ancient lineage and distinct
lineage and distinct even from the relic populations sam- even from the relic populations sampled in Anatolia, the sup-
pled in Anatolia, the supposed source of the Rhodian posed source of the Rhodian stock introduced since prehistoric
stock introduced in Neolithic times (Masseti et al. 1996, times. In the picture, the maximum-likelihood tree shows the
2002, 2006, 2008). According to archaeological evi- different mtDNA haplotypes of the Rhodian cervid, the Turkish
dence, it is possible to report the occurrence of fallow fallow deer and the Persian fallow deer, D. dama mesopotamica
deer on Rhodes since at least the 6th millennium BC Brooke 1875, rooted with a sequence of red deer, Cervus ela-
(Halstead and Jones 1987, Yannouli and Trantalidou phus L. 1758. Only bootstrap values (based on 1000 pseudo-
1999, Trantalidou 2002). On the contrary, it was at length replicates) and Bayesian posterior probability values above 50
believed that the animal was introduced onto the island are reported above each node (from top to bottom, ML, MP
from Asia Minor by the Knights of Saint John of Jeru- bootstrap and BI probability, respectively). Rhodes* denotes the
salem, who conquered Rhodes at the beginning of the cluster of haplotypes from Rhodian individuals carrying the 80
14th century. The genetic data clearly show that the split bp insertion (from Masseti et al. 2008).
between this Rhodian population and its probable
source, which is to be found elsewhere in ancient Vigne 1983, Ryder 1983, Hemmer 1990, Masseti 2002b,
Anatolia, occurred long before the establishment of the Bruford et al. 2003, Zeder et al. 2006), and demonstrates
former (Masseti et al. 2008) (Figure 25). that it is possible for some unique enclaves with a sig-
nificant portion of the original genetic diversity to be cre-
Today, fallow deer are very rare in Turkey, and the only ated and maintained by chance (Masseti et al. 2008). It
known surviving population is that preserved within the can be argued that this extraordinary process would be
enclosed area of Du¨ zlerc¸ ami (Termessos National Park, more likely with species selected for domestication, and
Antalya, Turkey), where it is currently dwindling dramati- additionally for hunting (Masseti 1998, 2002b). To this
cally, with only 25–30 animals surviving (Masseti 2007d). end, all the available evidence appears to confirm that
Considering the Anatolian population as the source for fallow deer were employed as game animals in the major-
all the populations founded by humans since prehistoric ity of the geographical areas where they were artificially
times, Masseti et al. (2008) suggest the structuring of this introduced outside their natural distribution (Masseti
population in genetically differentiated subpopulations. 1998). On Rhodes too, this species was imported in
From one of these subpopulations, some animals were order to be hunted (Masseti 1998, 1999, 2002b, Tranta-
plausibly captured and artificially moved to Rhodes. Con- lidou 2002). Instead, it is unlikely that fallow deer were
sidering the current level of genetic diversity recorded, it ever fully domesticated (Croft 1991, Masseti 1998). The
is likely that a good number of animals were used to
establish the Rhodian population. Otherwise, we would
have expected a major reduction in genetic diversity typ-
ical of a bottleneck due to a founder event. In addition,
if current archaeozoological records are correct and fal-
low deer arrived on Rhodes approximately 7–8 kya, this
time span comprises too few generations for the accu-
mulation of the current genetic variability starting from a
situation of virtually no variation, as predictable in the
case of a strong founder event. The example of the fallow
deer of Rhodes illustrates that the human-driven foun-
dation of animal populations does not necessarily result
in erosion and/or depletion of the original genetic varia-
bility of the species involved (Poplin 1979, Poplin and