Polish Pliocene and Quaternary deer and their biochronological implications

This work summarises the state of the art of the studies on the fossil cervids of Poland, from the Miocene through to the present, with an extensive reference to the faunas of the rest of Eurasia and the World. It deals with more than 5500 remains of 16 species from 68 localities. The study intends to give an overview on the taxa present in Poland. The primary focus is on the evolution and stages of dispersal of Cervidae in the frame of the environmental changes that took place across Central Europe. The authors propose to place the bioevents of cervids in the Western European Plio-Pleistocene mammalian biochronological framework, which includes the Ruscinian, Villafranchian, Galerian and Aurelian Mammal Ages. The cervid remains are shown to have great biochronological significance.