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Deer Taxonomy All animals that have hooves are placed in a single order that is called the Ungulates. This is a Greek word, which means 'with hooves'. The Ungulates is a large order, and contains over 200 different species of hoofed animal. There are two main types of Ungulate. Those animals that have a hoof made up of a single toe, such as the horses and rhinos, are called Perrisodactyls. Perrisodactyl means 'odd toed'. Those ungulates which have hooves made up of two toes are called Artiodactyl. This means 'even toed'. There are a large number of Artiodactyl species, and including the sheep, goats, antelope, cattle and deer. Within the Ungulate order of animals species are grouped together into separate families, all the species in a certain family are similar to each other or share a specific characteristic or feature. The Deer belong to the Cervidae family of ungulates. The one feature that unites all the members of the deer family is the possession of antlers. All deer species, except for the Chinese Water Deer, have antlers. The Chinese Water Deer is thought to have once had antlers but to have lost them through their evolutionary history. Deer also share a number of other characteristics such as having a relatively advanced form of rumination, and having long legs that are specially adapted to fast running and which contain a cannon bone. There are two separate lines of evolution within the Deer or Cervidae family. One group of deer evolved in North America, while the other groups centre of evolution was in Asia. The difference between these two groups of deer can be seen in the metacarpal bones of the remnant 2nd and 5th toes of the foot. The deer that evolved in North America are called the Telenmetacarpalia or New World Deer. While those that evolved in Asia are called the Plesiometacarpalia or the Old World Deer. Although they evolved in these separate parts of the world, some species from both groups have spread into different parts of the world, so that for example although the Red Deer is an Old World Deer it is now also found in America. There are 4 subfamilies of deer, and the Odocoilinae are Telenmetacarpalia or New World Deer, and the Muntiacinae, Hydropotinae and the Cervinae are Plesiometacarpalia or the Old World Deer. The species within the Muntiacinae and the Hydropotinae subfamilies are all very similar to each other. These deer all have small rounded bodies and short thin legs. The antlers of the males are usually only short simple spikes, and the males often have well developed canine teeth that look like fangs. The Cervinae subfamily co contains deer that are medium sized with long slender legs and long thin bodies. The antlers are often comely and branching in the males. The Odocoilinae is the most diverse subfamily of deer, with their being a great range of shapes and sizes of deer species. For example the elk is the largest of all deer and lives on the open plains of the northern tundra, while the small Southern Pudu is the smallest species of deer and lives amongst the forests of mountainsides. Altogether there are roughly about 40 species of deer. Biologists do not always agree about counts as a species or as a subspecies. For example some biologists consider the Persian Fallow Deer to be a subspecies of the Fallow Deer while others say it is a separate species. The same applies to the Roe deer and the Siberian Roe Deer. Here the most widely used list is shown. Family : Cervidae Subfamily
Hydropotinae Subfamily
Muntiacine Subfamily
Cervinae Subfamily
Odocoilinae © World Deer 2005. Email Webmaster
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