The species Cervus elaphus is characterised by its significant and very swift ability to adapt to the broad woodland-related range of environments in the northern hemisphere, as can be seen by the large number of distinct populations and living subspecies. From studies on the phenotypic plasticity and adaptative capability of living populations of red deer, we can hypothesise that environmental conditions influenced the spread and the evolution of the species, especially in changing landscapes like those of the Italian peninsula during the Middle and Late Pleistocene. In fact, Cervus elaphus occurs on the Italian peninsula from the Middle Pleistocene, a period characterised by a particularly wide variety of environments determined by changeable palaeoclimatic and palaeogeographical conditions that are in all cases more significant in the late Middle Pleistocene and in the Late Pleistocene. If we observe the various fossil subspecies and apply the principle that present features like phenotypic plasticity are important keys to understanding the past, we must reconsider the Pleistocene red deer in evolutionary and taxonomic terms. This reappraisal also provides new data on the biochronological importance of the various red deer subspecies widespread in Italy during the Middle and Late Pleistocene.

Cervus elaphus物种的特点是具有显着且非常迅速的适应北半球与林地相关的广泛环境的能力，这可以从大量不同的种群和生活亚种中看出。通过对马鹿种群的表型可塑性和适应能力的研究，我们可以假设环境条件影响了物种的传播和进化，尤其是在中更新世和晚更新世的意大利半岛等不断变化的景观中。事实上，Cervus elaphus发生于中更新世的意大利半岛，这一时期的特征是由多变的古气候和古地理条件决定的环境特别广泛，在所有情况下，在中更新世晚期和更新世晚期都更为重要。如果我们观察各种化石亚种并应用表型可塑性等现有特征是理解过去的重要关键这一原则，我们必须从进化和分类学的角度重新考虑更新世马鹿。这种重新评估还提供了关于在中更新世和晚更新世期间广泛分布于意大利的各种马鹿亚种的生物年代学重要性的新数据。