Project description
How deer on an island changed in amazing ways
Islands are evolution’s natural arenas. The Greek island of Crete provides one such successful example: the extinct genus of Pleistocene deer, Candiacervus. These deer, evolving through evolutionary change in under a million years, developed eight different species across six different body sizes, ranging from small to gigantic. However, how this diversity arose remains unknown. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions scheme, the CREDE project aims to reveal this mystery. By combining cutting-edge 3D bone imaging with isotopic analysis, scientists will unravel the history of these deer and their diets. This approach will reveal new insights into island mammal species evolution.
Objective
By their own very nature, islands are natural laboratories where evolutionary outcomes seem to exceed the limits of imagination. Stubby and flightless birds, dwarf elephants and hippos, and giant mice are some of the bizarre examples. Those morphological modifications are not the result of random variation but are triggered by the specific ecological conditions of the islands (absence of terrestrial predators and low level of competition for food and space). In some occasions, these conditions do not lead to a particular shift in body size, but instead to a diversification event, resulting in a disparity of forms, such as the case of Darwin’s finches in Galapagos.
The island of Crete (Greece) housed one such diversification, that of the enigmatic extinct Pleistocene deer. This genus (Candiacervus) evolved into eight species in six size groups, ranging from ~28 to ~245kg in body mass, in less than 1 million years. In CREDE I will explore this unusual disparity of body size in Cretan deer to understand the evolutionary mechanisms behind species radiations in mammals. Despite advances over the years in knowledge on this lineage, mainly focusing on dwarf or giant species, we know little about the factors underpinning this level of diversity. In CREDE I will employ my expertise in deer bone histology together with the novel application of 3D image analysis to examine bone microstructure of Cretan deer, and thus, obtain data about their life strategies (age at maturity, pace of growth, longevity). Moreover, the use of stable isotope will provide new integrative data on the ecological and dietary preferences of the different species. Finally, the combination of both approaches will shed light on diversification of mammal lineages on a macroevolutionary scale, presenting a comprehensive framework for interpreting mammalian evolution.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology mammalogy
- natural sciences biological sciences histology
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
2333 CR Leiden
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.