European fallow deer have faced a dramatic loss of genetic diversity since the last interglacial period. This was revealed by 120,000-year-old fossils from central Germany's Neumark-Nord site in Saxony-Anhalt, analyzed by researchers from the University of Potsdam, the MONREPOS Research Center and M useum in Neuwied, and Leiden University. Their results have been published in the journal iScience. Modern fallow deer thus represent just a fraction of their Ice Age ancestors' variety. The study highlights how climate and human actions substantially reshaped a once-diverse species and may help inform conservation action. ...read more read less