A new form of wapiti Cervus canadensis Erxleben, 1777 (Cervidae,Mammalia) from the Late Pleistocene of France

A well-preserved antlered braincase of wapiti (Cervus canadensis) from the Late Pleistocene of Saint-Hippolyte (Puy de Dôme, France) is described herein. The specific morphology of antlers suggests peculiar adaptations to the open landscapes of periglacial tundra-steppe that permitted to identify a new fossil subspecies Cervus canadensis combrayicus n. ssp. The specimen attests the occurrence of Cervus canadensis in the paleontological record of Western Europe and helps to clarify the systematical position of some disputed findings of Cervus from Western Europe. The revised systematic position of some fossil and sub-fossil cervid findings reveals the paleobiogeographic story of wapiti in Western Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum and the postglacial time. The treeless Alpine altitudes and Sweden are proposed as the glacial refugia for the last European wapiti. The medium-sized deer from Capri Island is regarded as an insular dwarfed wapiti C. canadensis tyrrhenicus closely related to the continental form C. canadensis palmidactyloceros from the alpine refugium.