DEER

Deer (singular and plural) are the hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two
main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the fallow deer, and
the chital; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer (caribou), the roe deer, and the moose.
Female reindeer, and male deer of all species except the Chinese water deer, grow and shed
new antlers each year. In this they differ from permanently horned antelope, which are part of a
different family (Bovidae) within the same order of even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla).
The musk deer (Moschidae) of Asia and chevrotains (Tragulidae) of tropical African and Asian
forests are separate families within the ruminant clade (Ruminantia). They are no more closely
related to deer than are other even-toed ungulates.
Deer appear in art from Paleolithic cave paintings onwards, and they have played a role in
mythology, religion, and literature throughout history, as well as in heraldry. Their economic
importance includes the use of their meat as venison, their skins as soft, strong buckskin, and their
antlers as handles for knives. Deer hunting has been a popular activity since at least the Middle
Ages and remains a resource for many families today.

Contents

 1Distribution
 2Description
o 2.1Antlers
o 2.2Teeth
 3Biology
o 3.1Diet
o 3.2Reproduction
o 3.3Disease
 4Evolution
o 4.1Eocene epoch
o 4.2Oligocene epoch
o 4.3Miocene epoch
o 4.4Pliocene epoch
o 4.5Pleistocene epoch
 5Taxonomy and classification
o 5.1External relationships
o 5.2Internal relationships
o 5.3Extant subfamilies, genera and species
o 5.4Extinct subfamilies, genera and species
 6Human interaction
o 6.1In prehistory
o 6.2In history
o 6.3In literature
o 6.4Heraldry
o 6.5Economic significance
 7Etymology
 8Terminology
 9See also
 10References
 11Further reading
 12External links

Distribution[edit]

Chital deer in Nagarahole, India

Deer live in a variety of biomes, ranging from tundra to the tropical rainforest. While often associated
with forests, many deer are ecotone species that live in transitional areas between forests and
thickets (for cover) and prairie and savanna (open space). The majority of large deer species inhabit
temperate mixed deciduous forest, mountain mixed coniferous forest, tropical seasonal/dry forest,
and savanna habitats around the world. Clearing open areas within forests to some extent may
actually benefit deer populations by exposing the understory and allowing the types of grasses,
weeds, and herbs to grow that deer like to eat. Additionally, access to adjacent croplands may also
benefit deer. However, adequate forest or brush cover must still be provided for populations to grow
and thrive.
Deer are widely distributed, with indigenous representatives in all continents except Antarctica and
Australia, though Africa has only one native deer, the Barbary stag, a subspecies of red deer that is
confined to the Atlas Mountainsin the northwest of the continent. However, fallow deer have been
introduced to South Africa. Small species of brocket deer and pudús of Central and South America,
and muntjacs of Asia generally occupy dense forests and are less often seen in open spaces, with
the possible exception of the Indian muntjac. There are also several species of deer that are highly
specialized, and live almost exclusively in mountains, grasslands, swamps, and "wet" savannas, or
riparian corridors surrounded by deserts. Some deer have a circumpolar distribution in both North
America and Eurasia. Examples include the caribou that live in Arctic tundra and taiga (boreal
forests) and moose that inhabit taiga and adjacent areas. Huemul deer (taruca and Chilean huemul)
of South America's Andes fill the ecological niches of the ibex and wild goat, with the fawns behaving
more like goat kids.
The highest concentration of large deer species in temperate North America lies in the Canadian
Rocky Mountain and Columbia Mountain regions between Alberta and British Columbia where all
five North American deer species (white-tailed deer, mule deer, caribou, elk, and moose) can be
found. This region has several clusters of national parks including Mount Revelstoke National
Park, Glacier National Park (Canada), Yoho National Park, and Kootenay National Park on the
British Columbia side, and Banff National Park, Jasper National Park, and Glacier National Park
(U.S.) on the Alberta and Montana sides. Mountain slope habitats vary from moist coniferous/mixed
forested habitats to dry subalpine/pine forests with alpine meadows higher up. The foothills and river
valleys between the mountain ranges provide a mosaic of cropland and deciduous parklands. The
rare woodland caribou have the most restricted range living at higher altitudes in the subalpine
meadows and alpine tundra areas of some of the mountain ranges. Elk and mule deer both migrate
between the alpine meadows and lower coniferous forests and tend to be most common in this
region. Elk also inhabit river valley bottomlands, which they share with White-tailed deer. The White-
tailed deer have recently expanded their range within the foothills and river valley bottoms of the
Canadian Rockies owing to conversion of land to cropland and the clearing of coniferous forests
allowing more deciduous vegetation to grow up the mountain slopes. They also live in the aspen
parklands north of Calgary and Edmonton, where they share habitat with the moose. The
adjacent Great Plains grassland habitats are left to herds of elk, American bison,
and pronghorn antelope.

Reindeer herds, standing on snow to avoid flies

The Eurasian Continent (including the Indian Subcontinent) boasts the most species of deer in the
world, with most species being found in Asia. Europe, in comparison, has lower diversity in plant and
animal species. However, many national parks and protected reserves in Europe do have
populations of red deer, roe deer, and fallow deer. These species have long been associated with
the continent of Europe, but also inhabit Asia Minor, the Caucasus Mountains, and
Northwestern Iran. "European" fallow deer historically lived over much of Europe during the Ice
Ages, but afterwards became restricted primarily to the Anatolian Peninsula, in present-day Turkey.
Present-day fallow deer populations in Europe are a result of historic man-made introductions of this
species, first to the Mediterranean regions of Europe, then eventually to the rest of Europe. They
were initially park animals that later escaped and reestablished themselves in the wild. Historically,
Europe's deer species shared their deciduous forest habitat with other herbivores, such as the
extinct tarpan (forest horse), extinct aurochs (forest ox), and the endangered wisent (European
bison). Good places to see deer in Europe include the Scottish Highlands, the Austrian Alps, the
wetlands between Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic and some fine National Parks,
including Doñana National Park in Spain, the Veluwe in the Netherlands, the Ardennes in Belgium,
and Białowieża National Park of Poland. Spain, Eastern Europe, and the Caucasus Mountains still
have virgin forest areas that are not only home to sizable deer populations but also for other animals
that were once abundant such as the wisent, Eurasian lynx, Iberian lynx, wolves, and brown bears.
The highest concentration of large deer species in temperate Asia occurs in the mixed deciduous
forests, mountain coniferous forests, and taiga bordering North Korea, Manchuria (Northeastern
China), and the Ussuri Region (Russia). These are among some of the richest deciduous and
coniferous forests in the world where one can find Siberian roe deer, sika deer, elk, and moose.
Asian caribou occupy the northern fringes of this region along the Sino-Russian border.
Deer such as the sika deer, Thorold's deer, Central Asian red deer, and elk have historically been
farmed for their antlers by Han Chinese, Turkic peoples, Tungusic peoples, Mongolians,
and Koreans. Like the Sami people of Finland and Scandinavia, the Tungusic peoples, Mongolians,
and Turkic peoples of Southern Siberia, Northern Mongolia, and the Ussuri Region have also taken
to raising semi-domesticated herds of Asian caribou.
The highest concentration of large deer species in the tropics occurs in Southern Asia in India's
Indo-Gangetic Plain Region and Nepal's Terai Region. These fertile plains consist of tropical
seasonal moist deciduous, dry deciduous forests, and both dry and wet savannas that are home
to chital, hog deer, barasingha, Indian sambar, and Indian muntjac. Grazing species such as the
endangered barasingha and very common chital are gregarious and live in large herds. Indian
sambar can be gregarious but are usually solitary or live in smaller herds. Hog deer are solitary and
have lower densities than Indian muntjac. Deer can be seen in several national parks in India, Nepal,
and Sri Lanka of which Kanha National Park, Dudhwa National Park, and Chitwan National Park are
most famous. Sri Lanka's Wilpattu National Park and Yala National Park have large herds of Indian
sambar and chital. The Indian sambar are more gregarious in Sri Lanka than other parts of their
range and tend to form larger herds than elsewhere.
The Chao Praya River Valley of Thailand was once primarily tropical seasonal moist deciduous
forest and wet savanna that hosted populations of hog deer, the now-extinct Schomburgk's
deer, Eld's deer, Indian sambar, and Indian muntjac. Both the hog deer and Eld's deer are rare,
whereas Indian sambar and Indian muntjac thrive in protected national parks, such as Khao Yai.
Many of these South Asian and Southeast Asian deer species also share their habitat with
other herbivores, such as Asian elephants, the various Asian rhinoceros species, various antelope
species (such as nilgai, four-horned antelope, blackbuck, and Indian gazelle in India), and wild oxen
(such as wild Asian water buffalo, gaur, banteng, and kouprey). One way that different herbivores
can survive together in a given area is for each species to have different food preferences, although
there may be some overlap.
Australia has six introduced species of deer that have established sustainable wild populations
from acclimatisation society releases in the 19th century. These are the fallow deer, red deer,
sambar, hog deer, rusa, and chital. Red deer introduced into New Zealand in 1851 from English and
Scottish stock were domesticated in deer farms by the late 1960s and are common farm animals
there now. Seven other species of deer were introduced into New Zealand but none are as
widespread as red deer.[1]

Description[edit]

Tails of I) white-tailed deer, II) mule deer, III) black-tailed deer, IV) elk, V) red deer

Deer constitute the second most diverse family of artiodactyla after bovids.[2] Though of a similar
build, deer are strongly distinguished from antelopes by their antlers, which are temporary and
regularly regrown unlike the permanent horns of bovids.[3] Characteristics typical of deer include long,
powerful legs, a diminutive tail and long ears.[4] Deer exhibit a broad variation in physical proportions.
The largest extant deer is the moose, which is nearly 2.6 metres (8.5 ft) tall and weighs up to 800
kilograms (1,800 lb).[5][6] The elk stands 1.4–2 metres (4.6–6.6 ft) at the shoulder and weighs 240–
450 kilograms (530–990 lb).[7] On the contrary, the northern pudu is the smallest deer in the world; it
reaches merely 32–35 centimetres (13–14 in) at the shoulder and weighs 3.3–6 kilograms (7.3–
13.2 lb). The southern pudu is only slightly taller and heavier.[8] Sexual dimorphism is quite
pronounced – in most species males tend to be larger than females,[9] and, except for the reindeer,
only males possess antlers.[10]
Coat colour generally varies between red and brown,[11] though it can be as dark as chocolate brown
in the tufted deer[12] or have a grayish tinge as in elk.[7] Different species of brocket deer vary from
gray to reddish brown in coat colour.[13] Several species such as the chital,[14] the fallow deer[15] and
the sika deer[16] feature white spots on a brown coat. Coat of reindeer shows notable geographical
variation.[17] Deer undergo two moults in a year;[11][18] for instance, in red deer the red, thin-haired
summer coat is gradually replaced by the dense, greyish brown winter coat in autumn, which in turn
gives way to the summer coat in the following spring.[19] Moulting is affected by the photoperiod.[20]
Deer are also excellent jumpers and swimmers. Deer are ruminants, or cud-chewers, and have a
four-chambered stomach. Some deer, such as those on the island of Rùm,[21] do consume meat
when it is available.[22]

A fawn's first steps

Nearly all deer have a facial gland in front of each eye. The gland contains a strongly
scented pheromone, used to mark its home range. Bucks of a wide range of species open these
glands wide when angry or excited. All deer have a liver without a gallbladder. Deer also have
a tapetum lucidum, which gives them sufficiently good night vision.
Antlers