Measurements of the cheek teeth of fossil (Meiling cave) and extant Cervus (Sika) nippon

From the Middle Pleistocene to the Late Pleistocene, the main group of Sika subgenus gradually shifted from Cervus (Sika) grayi to Cervus (Sika) nippon, which may be related to climate change and ancient human activities. There is controversy over the species validity of the Cervus (Sika) grayi, which is usually distinguished from Cervus (Sika) nippon based on body size.

About 250 cheek teeth fossils of sika deer have been discovered at the Meiling cave fossil site in Liyang, Jiangsu, providing materials for comparing the body size differences between C. (S.) grayi and C. (S.) nippon. This dataset summarizes the cheek tooth measurement data of the Sika subgenus in the literature, and includes cheek tooth measurement data of Meiling cave and extant C. (S.) nippon. The results showed that there was some variation in the cheek tooth size of the Sika subgenus, and the difference in cheek tooth size between C. (S.) grayi and C. (S.) nippon was relatively small.