AGENDEER · Palaeogenetics and palaeoecology of the Southern European red deer, the greatest survivor of the Late Quaternary Extinction event

The Late Quaternary Extinction event led to a major loss of biodiversity with the global disappearance of several terrestrial large mammals. Ancient DNA studies of extinct lineages dated before the Late Pleistocene/Holocene boundary suggests that this event may have been a result of repetitive climatic shifts that fragmented large mammal populations making them more vulnerable to increasing human activities. Current climate change and human impacts on ecosystems may lead to similar scenarios of extinction. The red deer (Cervus elaphus) represents one of the few taxa that survived the Quaternary megafauna extinction, with the fossil record suggesting that its lineage has been continuously present for almost 1 Ma in the Iberian Peninsula which acted as a refugium during intense glacials. The aim of AGENDEER is to provide data on the genetic structure and niche occupation of Southern European fossil red deer populations before and after the Late Quaternary Extinction event. Through palaeogenetic and dietary behaviours analyses, as well as a pilot palaeoproteomic study, AGENDEER will investigate which winning (palaeobiological and palaeoecological) strategies that allowed Cervus elaphus to not disappear as other megafauna populations. Results will be essential to understand the survival capacity and adaptation of one of the most important species of the European natural heritage providing new information for the proper management of the species. The European Researcher will receive advanced training on state-of-the-art molecular analyses which combined with classical palaeoecological methods will greatly enhance her competence and allow her to develop her research career and leadership