Editing Deer (section)

===Pliocene===

[[File:Cervoceros novorossiae.jpg|thumb|''[[Cervocerus novorossiae]]'']]
With the onset of the [[Pliocene]], the global climate became cooler. A fall in the sea-level led to massive glaciation; consequently, grasslands abounded in nutritious forage. Thus a new spurt in deer populations ensued.<ref name=Geist/><ref name=Ludt/> The oldest member of Cervini, [[extinction|†]] ''[[Cervocerus novorossiae]]'', appeared around the transition from Miocene to Pliocene (4.2–6 Mya) in Eurasia;<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Di Stefano | first1=G. | last2=Petronio | first2=C. | title=Systematics and evolution of the Eurasian Plio-Pleistocene tribe Cervini (Artiodactyla, Mammalia) | journal=Geologica Romana | date=2002 | volume=36 | pages=311–34 | url=http://tetide.geo.uniroma1.it/dst/grafica_nuova/pubblicazioni_DST/geologica_romana/Volumi/VOL%2036/GR_36_311_334_DI%20Stefano%20et%20al.pdf | access-date=11 April 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310214846/http://tetide.geo.uniroma1.it/dst/grafica_nuova/pubblicazioni_DST/geologica_romana/Volumi/VOL%2036/GR_36_311_334_DI%20Stefano%20et%20al.pdf | archive-date=10 March 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref> cervine fossils from early Pliocene to as late as the [[Pleistocene]] have been excavated in China<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Petronio | first1=C. | last2=Krakhmalnaya | first2=T. | last3=Bellucci | first3=L. | last4=Di Stefano | first4=G. | title=Remarks on some Eurasian pliocervines: Characteristics, evolution, and relationships with the tribe Cervini | journal=Geobios | date=2007 | volume=40 | issue=1 | pages=113–30 | doi=10.1016/j.geobios.2006.01.002| doi-access=free | bibcode=2007Geobi..40..113P }}</ref> and the Himalayas.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Ghaffar | first1=A. | last2=Akhtar | first2=M. | last3=Nayyer | first3=A. Q. | title=Evidences of Early Pliocene fossil remains of tribe Cervini (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Cervidae) from the Siwaliks of Pakistan | journal=Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences | date=2011 | volume=21 | issue=4 | pages=830–5 | url=http://www.thejaps.org.pk/docs/21-4/34.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.thejaps.org.pk/docs/21-4/34.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}</ref> While ''Cervus'' and ''Dama'' appeared nearly 3 Mya, ''Axis'' emerged during the late Pliocene–Pleistocene. The tribes Capreolini and Rangiferini appeared around 4–7 Mya.<ref name=Gilbert2006/>

Around 5 Mya, the rangiferina [[extinction|†]] ''[[Bretzia]]'' and [[extinction|†]] ''[[Eocoileus]]'' were the first cervids to reach North America.<ref name=Gilbert2006/> This implies the Bering Strait could be crossed during the late Miocene–Pliocene; this appears highly probable as the [[camelid]]s migrated into Asia from North America around the same time.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=van der Made | first1=J. | last2=Morales | first2=J. | last3=Sen | first3=S. | last4=Aslan | first4=F. | title=The first camel from the Upper Miocene of Turkey and the dispersal of the camels into the Old World | journal=Comptes Rendus Palevol | date=2002 | volume=1 | issue=2 | pages=117–22 | doi=10.1016/S1631-0683(02)00012-X| bibcode=2002CRPal...1..117V }}</ref> Deer invaded South America in the late Pliocene (2.5–3 Mya) as part of the [[Great American Interchange]], thanks to the recently formed [[Isthmus of Panama]], and emerged successful due to the small number of competing ruminants in the continent.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Webb | first1=S. D. | editor1-last=Vrba | editor1-first=E. S. | editor1-link=Elisabeth Vrba | editor2-last=Schaller | editor2-first=G. B. | editor2-link=George Schaller | title=Antelopes, Deer, and Relatives: Fossil Record, Behavioral Ecology, Systematics, and Conservation | date=2000 | publisher=Yale University Press | location=New Haven, US | isbn=978-0-300-08142-8 | pages=38–64 | chapter=Evolutionary history of New World Cervidae |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=f34SmXP27ywC&pg=PA38}}</ref>