Rucervus schomburgki Blyth, 1863:155

Schomburgk's deer

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

Synonym/s: Cervus schomburgki Blyth, 1863:155; Cervus duvaucelii schomburgki Blyth, 1863:155; Thaocervus schomburgki Blyth, 1863: 155.

Pocock (1943) placed this species in its own genus: Thaocervus. However, this has not been followed by subsequent authors.

Conservation Status

Extinct

Last record (wild): 1932 (Goodwin & Goodwin 1973); 1938 (Fisher & Blomberg, 2012)

Last record (captivity): 1938 (Duckworth et al., 2015a,b)

IUCN RedList status: Extinct

The last wild individuals died in 1932, while the last captive individual survived until 1938 (Duckworth et al., 2008).

Distribution

Thailand

Although Schomburgk's deer has been stated by various authors as inhabiting the countries surrounding Thailand (e.g. China: Bentham, 1908; Sclater, 1891), none of these occurrences has been corroborated by independent witnesses and the species is best considered as endemic to Thailand (Duckworth, 2015b).

Biology & Ecology

Hypodigm

Apparently hundreds of antlers and skulls of this species exist, taken as trophies by hunters. Ward (1892:19) lists six sets of antlers in various collections.

Media

Historical photos

More research needs to conducted into establishing the dates and photographers of the following seven known photos of living Schomburgk's deer.

Above: photo from the 1899 Berlin Zoo (Zoologischer Garten Berlin) Guidebook. Source: https://www.zoochat.com/community/media/schomburgks-deer.213045/

Above: Berlin Zoo (Zoologischer Garten Berlin), c.1904

Above: male in the Berlin Zoo (Zoologischer Garten Berlin) possibly taken in 1905 (Giles, 1937:3, pl. 2), and formerly in the possession of a Mr. Chance, and then Mr. A. H. Duke. It is extremely similar to the second photo below, allegedly taken by Lothar Schlawe in 1911, however there are three noticeable differences, a) the placement of the antlers (compare the even height of the outer right two tips here with the uneven height of them in the Schlawe photo below), b) the corresponding absence of a shadow running down the animal's head and neck, and c) the lighter background which is less shadowy. It seems likely given the similarities of the two photos, despite their minor differences, that they were taken seconds apart and thus both either date from 1905 or 1911 and thus were taken by a single individual (likely but not certain to be either Mr. Chance or Lothar Schlawe).

Above: Berlin Zoo (Zoologischer Garten Berlin), c.1908.

Above: Berlin Zoo (Zoologischer Garten Berlin). Photo possibly by Lothar Schlawe in 1911. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Above: male in the Berlin Zoo (Zoologischer Garten Berlin). Photo held by the Aquazoo Löbbecke Museum, Düsseldorf (Germany). Brought to my attention (discovered?) by Pedro Henrique Amancio Padilha and Andrew Vamvatsikos. Photographer unknown.

Discredited photo

Above: photographer and date unknown. Published in สาระนาค (2007). Source: https://www.facebook.com/DNP.Wildlife/photos/a.1817818245209474/2852288841762404/

The above photo can be found in several places on the internet, always identified as a Schomburgk's deer. However, Laura, owner of the blog Endling Musings on tumblr (https://endlingmusings.tumblr.com/), has investigated the photo and found it to represent a barasingha or swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelii) stag at Woburn Abbey in Bedforshire, England. She points out to me that the antlers and the visible portion of the building in the photo are identical to those in a second photo of this individual, clearly identified as a barasingha or swamp deer (Lydekker, 1900:230).

References

Original scientific description:

Blyth, E. (1863). Mr. E. Blyth on some horns of ruminants. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1863, pg. 155-158.

Other references:

สาระนาค, ธนพล. (2007). ความฝันที่เป็นจริง ของคุณหมอบุญส่ง. Publisher?

Antonius, O. (1937). Zwei Abbildungen vom Schomburgk-Hirsch (Rucervus schomburgki Blyth) aus Zoologischen Gärten. D. Zool. Garten (NF) 8, 209-211.

Bazyan, Saloume. (2013). Sexual selection and extinction in deer. Master of Science. Uppsala University. 62 pp.

Bentham, T. 1908. An illustrated catalogue of the Asiatic horns and antlers in the catalogue of the Indian Museum. Indian Museum, Calcutta, India.

Bhicharana, P.J. (1932). Notes on the Schomburgk Deer. Journal of the Siam Society of Natural History 8: 311-313.

Blanford, W.T. 1891. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma, Mammalia. Part II. Taylor and Francis, London, UK.

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Duckworth, J.W., Robichaud, W.G. and Timmins, R.J. (2015a). Rucervus schomburgki. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2015.2. (http://www.iucnredlist.org). Downloaded on 25 June 2015.

Duckworth, J.W., Robichaud, W. & Timmins, R. (2015b). Rucervus schomburgki. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T4288A79818502. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-3.RLTS.T4288A79818502.en. Downloaded on 23 June 2021.

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https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-09/nu-esr090619.php

https://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/7711/rucervus-schomburgki-schomburgks-deer

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Laura for pointing out that the fifth historical photo I had as a Schomburgk's deer is in fact a barasingha or swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelii).

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