Svalbard reindeer
Svalbard reindeer
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Cervidae
Subfamily: Capreolinae
Genus: Rangifer
Species:
R. tarandus
Subspecies:
R. t. platyrhynchus
Trinomial name
Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus
(Vrolik, 1829)

The Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus) is a small subspecies or species of reindeer found on the Svalbard archipelago of Norway. Males average 65–90 kg (143–198 lb) in weight, females 53–70 kg (117–154 lb),[2] while for other reindeer generally body mass is 159–182 kg (351–401 lb) for males and 80–120 kg (180–260 lb) for females.[3]

The species is endemic to the islands of Svalbard, where it has lived for at least 5,000 years and has become well adapted to the harsh climate,[4][5] being found on nearly all non-glaciated areas of the archipelago. By 1925 they had almost gone extinct due to over-hunting in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Over recent decades, their population has increased. As of 2019, the total population across the archipelago is approximately 22,000.[6] They are the only large grazing mammal in the European High Arctic, and this makes them exceptional for studies concerning the introduction of pollutants to changing ecosystems. During the short Arctic summer, Svalbard reindeer feed on a lush tundra vegetation of vascular plants, including grasses, herbs, sedges and deciduous shrubs in the lowland plains and valleys, to accumulate fat for the winter.[7] The fur of Svalbard reindeer contains elements and chemicals picked up from the vegetation they digest. They are relatively sedentary, and are thus highly vulnerable to changes in local conditions.[8]

Svalbard reindeer running

Compared to other reindeer, they are short-legged and have a small, rounded head.[2] Their fur is also lighter in color and thicker during winter. The thickness of the coat contributes to the short-legged appearance and makes even starved animals appear fat in the winter. The males develop large antlers during the period from April to July and shed the velvet during August–September. Males lose their antlers in early winter. Females develop antlers starting in June and they are usually retained for a whole year.[2]

Female Svalbard reindeer with calves
Svalbard reindeer hunting exhibition at the Polar Museum in Tromsø, Norway

Some 200 reindeer were found starved to death in July 2019.[9] Rain on snow early in the winter season formed thick layers of ice on the tundra, making grazing plants inaccessible, a result of the warmer temperatures due to climate change.[10]

Taxonomy

Originally named Cervus (Tarandus) platyrhynchus Vrolik, 1829,[11] the Svalbard reindeer was elevated to species status by Camerano[12] with the name Rangifer spitzbergensis ("spetsbergensis" from Andersén, 1862[13]) and renamed R. platyrhynchus by Miller Jr. (1912).[14] Lydekker (1915)[15] brought it under tundra reindeer as R. tarandus platyrhynchus, but Sokolov (1937)[16] insisted that its morphological differences warranted species status, R. platyrhynchus. Flerov (1933)[17] agreed, illustrating the skull's very different shape, besides being very much smaller than all Russian forms (basal length 295–344 mm [11.6–13.5 in], compared to R. t. sibiricus 346–420 mm [13.6–16.5 in], R. t. phylarchus 390–435 mm [15.4–17.1 in], R. angustirostris 407–430 mm [16.0–16.9 in]). The feet of Svalbard reindeer are also different from Eurasian tundra reindeer, in that the metapodia (long bones of the hand and foot) are shorter in proportion to the tibia.[18]

Despite mtDNA haplotypes that indicate a common origin with mainland tundra reindeer,[19][20] many genetic studies have shown the wide genetic distance between Svalbard and other reindeer. [21][22]

Røed,[23] using gel electrophoresis to analyze genetic variation in Svalbard reindeer compared to wild Norwegian reindeer, reported "unique alleles in the loci coding for transferrin and acid phosphatase for the two subspecies indicate that there has been no interbreeding in recent time" and estimated divergence 225,000 years ago, that is, during the interstadial before the last glacial maximum (LGM). One of the hallmarks of species definition is reproductive isolation. Besides the long isolation without interbreeding, despite likely opportunities to do so, Svalbard reindeer have several adaptation specific to their habitat in cold polar desert: they have much lower metabolic rates, whether standing or lying, than other reindeer, and are less energetic in terms of locomotion;[24] they accumulate unusual amounts of fat,[25] their fat metabolism lets them tolerate "lower critical temperatures" of −50 °C (−58 °F), compared to just −30 °C (−22 °F) in wild Norwegian reindeer; and they have adaptations to 24 hours/day darkness in winter , such as lack of circadian rhythms and melatonin production, that are lacking or reduced in Norwegian reindeer, which enjoy a period of daylight even in midwinter.[26] These adaptations would doubtless preclude a Svalbard reindeer's survival in the habitat of tundra reindeer, and vice versa.

A 2022 study supports the recognition of the Svalbard reindeer as a distinct species, based on heavy genetic divergence and morphological divergence.[27]

References

  1. ↑ Gunn, A. (2016). "Rangifer tarandus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T29742A22167140. Archived from the original on 30 March 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Aanes, R. "Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus)". Norwegian Polar Institute. Archived from the original on 30 March 2020.
  3. ↑ "Caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti)". Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  4. ↑ Aasheim, Stein P. (2008). Norges nasjonalparker: Svalbard [Norwegian National Park: Svalbard] (in Norwegian). Oslo: Gyldendal. pp. 34–36. ISBN 978-82-05-37128-6.
  5. ↑ Lauritzen, Per Roger, ed. (2009). "Svalbardrein, Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus Vrolik" [Svalbard reindeer, Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus Vrolik]. Norsk Fjelleksikon (in Norwegian). Friluftsforlaget. ISBN 978-82-91-49547-7.
  6. ↑ "Svalbard reindeer populations rebounding from centuries of hunting". EurekAlert!. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  7. ↑ Zielińska, Sylwia; Kidawa, Dorota; Stempniewicz, Lech; Łoś, Marcin; Łoś, Joanna M. (2017). "DNA extracted from faeces as a source of information about endemic reindeer from the High Arctic: Detection of Shiga toxin genes and the analysis of reindeer male-specific DNA" (PDF). Polar Biology. 40 (3): 659–666. doi:10.1007/s00300-016-1990-2.
  8. ↑ Pacyna, A.; Koziorowska, K.; Chmiel, S.; Mazerski, J.; Polkowska, Z. (2018). "Svalbard reindeer as an indicator of ecosystem changes in the Arctic terrestrial ecosystem". Chemosphere. 203: 203, 209–218. Bibcode:2018Chmsp.203..209P. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.03.158. PMID 29621677. S2CID 5045697.
  9. ↑ Weisberger, Mindy (29 July 2019). "More Than 200 Reindeer Found Dead in Norway, Starved by Climate Change". Live Science.
  10. ↑ Pedersen, Åshild Ønvik (28 May 2019). "Norsk Polarinstitutt" [Norwegian Polar Institute]. Norsk Polarinstitutt (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  11. ↑ Vrolich W (1828) Rendier. In: Nieuwe Verhandelingen der eerste Klasse van het Koninklijk-Nederlandsche Instituut van Wetenschappen, Letterkunde en Schoone Kunsten te Amsterdam. Amsterdam, 160.
  12. ↑ Camerano L (1902) Ricerche intorno alle renne delle isole Spitzberghe. Memoires de L'Academia Royale des Sciences (Torino) [Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences (Turin)] Series 2 51: 159-240.
  13. ↑ Andersén CH (1862) Om Spetsbergsrenen, Cervus tarandus, forma spetsbergensis. Öfversigt af Kongl Vetenskaps-Akjademiens Forhandlingar 8: 457-461
  14. ↑ Miller Jr. GS (1912) Catalogue of the mammals of Western Europe (Europe exclusive of Russia) in the collection of the British Museum. British Museum (Natural History), London, U.K., 1019 pp.
  15. ↑ Lydekker R (1915) Catalogue of the ungulate mammals in the British Museum (Natural History): Artiodactyla, families Cervidæ (deer), Tragulidæ (chevrotains), Camelidæ (camels and llamas), Suidæ (pigs and peccaries), and Hippopotamidæ (hippopotamus). Vol. 4,Trustees of the British Museum, London, U.K., 385 pp.
  16. ↑ Sokolov II (1937) Половая, возрастная и расовая изменчивость черепа диких и домашних северных оленей [Sexual, age and racial variation of the skull of wild and domestic reindeer; in Russian, English abstract]. Soviet Reindeer Industry 9: 1-102.
  17. ↑ Flerov, Constantine C. (1933). "Review of the Palaearctic reindeer or caribou". Journal of Mammalogy. 14 (4): 328–338. doi:10.2307/1373952. JSTOR 1373952.
  18. ↑ Willemsen, G.F. (1983). "Osteological measurements and some remarks on the evolution of the Svalbard reindeer, Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus". Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde. 48: 175–185. ISSN 0044-3468.
  19. ↑ Gravlund, Peter; Meldgaard, Morten; Pääbo, Svante; Arctander, Peter (1998). "Polyphyletic origin of the small-bodied subspecies of tundra reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 10 (2): 155–159. doi:10.1006/mpev.1998.0525. PMID 9878226.
  20. ↑ Kvie, Kjersti S.; Heggenes, Jan; Anderson, David G.; Kholodova, Marina V.; Sipko, Taras; Mizin, Ivan; Røed, Knut H. (2016). "Colonizing the high arctic: mitochondrial DNA reveals common origin of Eurasian archipelagic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)". PLOS ONE. 11 (11): e0165237. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1165237K. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0165237. PMC 5120779. PMID 27880778.
  21. ↑ Côté, S.D.; Dallas, J.F.; Marshall, F.; Irvine, R.J.; Langvatn, R.; Albon, S.D. (2002). "Microsatellite DNA evidence for genetic drift and philopatry in Svalbard reindeer". Molecular Ecology. 11 (10): 1923–1930. doi:10.1046/j.1365-294x.2002.01582.x. PMID 12296937. S2CID 40533840.
  22. ↑ Yannic, Glenn; Pellissier, Loïc; Ortego, Joaquín; Lecomte, Nicolas; Couturier, Serge; Cuyler, Christine; Dussault, Christian; Hundertmark, Kris J.; Irvine, R. Justin; Jenkins, Deborah A.; Kolpashikov, Leonid; Mager, Karen; Musiani, Marco; Parker, Katherine L.; Røed, Knut H.; Sipko, Taras; Þórisson, Skarphéðinn G.; Weckworth, Byron V.; Guisan, Antoine; Bernatchez, Louis; Côté, Steeve D. (2013). "Genetic diversity in caribou linked to past and future climate change". Nature Climate Change. 4 (2): 132–137. doi:10.1038/NCLIMATE2074.
  23. ↑ Røed, K.H. (1985). "Comparison of the genetic variation in Svalbard and Norwegian reindeer". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 63 (9): 2038–2042. doi:10.1139/z85-300.
  24. ↑ Cuyler, L.C.; Øritsland, N.A. (1993). "Metabolic strategies for winter survival by Svalbard reindeer". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 71 (9): 1787–1792. doi:10.1139/z93-254.
  25. ↑ Pond, Caroline M.; Mattacks, Christine A.; Colby, R.H.; Tyler, N.J.C. (1993). "The anatomy, chemical composition and maximum glycolytic capacity of adipose tissue in wild Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus) in winter". Journal of Zoology. 229 (1): 17–40. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1993.tb02618.x.
  26. ↑ Nilssen, Kjell J.; Sundsfjord, Johan A.; Blix, Arnoldus Schytte (1984). "Regulation of metabolic rate in Svalbard and Norwegian reindeer". American Journal of Physiology. 247 (5): R837–R841. doi:10.1152/ajpregu.1984.247.5.R837. PMID 6496770.
  27. ↑ Harding, Lee E. (2022). "Available names for Rangifer (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Cervidae) species and subspecies". ZooKeys (1119): 117–151. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1119.80233. PMC 9848878. PMID 36762356.
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