Which species represents a distant evolutionary starting point for all cervids around 25 million years ago?
Answer
Protolabis
The earliest recognized ancestral deer species mentioned in the evolutionary timeline is Protolabis. This species appeared roughly 25 million years ago and serves as a distant marker for the starting point of all subsequent cervids, before the lineage that would lead to modern deer fully separated from other ruminant groups about 20 million years ago. Understanding Protolabis helps contextualize the deep evolutionary history preceding the relatively recent divergence of modern genera like Odocoileus. It signifies a very remote ancestor from which the entire deer family tree originates, highlighting the vast timeframe over which cervid evolution has proceeded.
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