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Members of the cervid kin ( Cervidae ) are cloven - hoofed ungulates that typically have summary torsos with long , slender leg and little tails — and most male person have antler .
The family is quite large , and includes caribou , elk , moose , muntjacs and wapiti . deer are the 2d most diverse family after bovids ( antelopes , bison , buffalo , goats , sheep , etc . ) . There are about 50 species , but there is some disagreement aboutcervid categorization . According to the University of Michigan ’s Animal Diversity Web ( ADW ) , no single well - supported phylogenetic and taxonomic history has been established .
A mule deer missing an antler. Deer loose their antlers each year and re-grow new ones from stem cells in the base of the antler.
Size & description
Deer mintage pasture from very large to very small . The modest deer is theSouthern pudu , according to the ARKive projection . It weighs only abbout 20 lb . ( 9 kilograms ) and get to be only about 14 inch ( 36 centimeters ) tall when amply grown . [ Related : Oh , You Deer : Newborn Mini Fawn Is severely Cute ]
The tumid deer is themoose . It can rise up to 6.5 feet ( 2 meters ) from hoof to shoulder and weigh around 1,800 pound . ( 820 kg ) .
All cervid species have antlers , except for the Chinese water cervid . Only males have antlers , except forcaribou ( caribou ) . Both manly and female caribou have antlers . antler grow from boney support structure call pedicels , according to ADW . They are covered in " velvet , " which is rich in nervus and blood vessel . When the antler are full grown , the velvet die and the deer will scratch it off against a tree or other vegetation .
A mule deer missing an antler. Deer loose their antlers each year and re-grow new ones from stem cells in the base of the antler.
Habitat
cervid are encounter all over the worldly concern , except Australia and Antarctica . While other continents have a wide array of deer , Africa only has one , the Barbary red cervid , according to ADW . The Southern pudu is aboriginal to Chile and Argentina . The lily-white - tailed deer is common to North and South America .
cervid are recover in many different ecosystems . They live in wetland , deciduous forest , grasslands , rain forests , arid scrublands and mountains . Sometimes , when human civilization get too faithful to home , cervid will even make themselves well-heeled in urban configurations .
Habits
Deer are very social and travelling in groups called ruck . The ruck is often result by a dominant male , though with some species the herds are segregated by sex . Sometimes the females will have their own herd and the males will have a separate herd . In other eccentric , a female ruck is watch over by a herd of males . Some caribou herds can have as many as 100,000 members , grant to ADW .
Most deer are combat-ready throughout the day , though their most active time are during cockcrow and gloaming . They spend their days foraging for food .
Diet
cervid are herbivore ; they only eat vegetation . For the most part , a cervid ’s diet lie in of locoweed , low shrubs and leaves , though they will forage in methamphetamine hydrochloride bins and in gardens if they can not find the vegetation they necessitate elsewhere .
Deer have one principal stomach and three " sham stomach . " Like cows , they masticate their cud to fully concentrate their intellectual nourishment .
Offspring
Though not common , some deer are monogamous , such as the European Roe cervid . When a deer breeds depend on where it last . Deer in temperate areas breed during recent fall or other winter . Deer that live in low parallel breed from late spring into former summer . cervid that live in tropical climates spouse whenever they need , which could be several times per year .
Deer carry their young for a maternity stop of 180 to 240 days . For northerly and southern whitened - tailed cervid , gestation is around 193 to 205 day , concord toLouisiana State University . Usually , the larger the deer , the longer the mother carries it in her uterus . Deer usually only have one to three young at a time and these young are called greyish brown . Some of the large cervid babe are also called calves .
Deer range in people of color from black to very light-colored Robert Brown , accord to ADW , and fawns are assume with white spots to help camouflage them from predators . Fawns are wean at two to five month of age . Deer are unable to fully mature unless they achieve a certain size , though how big they need to be varies depending on specie . Overall , most deer live 11 to 12 days , though many die long before then due to predators or environmental risk such as hit with auto .
Classification/taxonomy
Different sources numerate cervid specie otherwise . ADW , a resource written by and for college pupil at theUniversity of Michigan ’s Museum of Zoology , enunciate there are 47 metal money . A standard reference work in fauna , " Mammal Species of the World , 3rd Edition , " edited by Don E. Wilson and DeeAnn M. Reeder ( Johns Hopkins Press , 2005 ) , list 51 species . TheIntegrated Taxonomic Information System(ITIS ) , a partnership of several U.S. federal federal agency , also lists 51 species .
This is the taxonomy of cervid , grant to ITIS :
Kingdom : AnimaliaSubkingdom : BilateriaInfrakingdom : DeuterostomiaPhylum : ChordataSubphylum : VertebrataInfraphylum : GnathostomataSuperclass : TetrapodaClass : MammaliaSubclass : TheriaInfraclass : EutheriaOrder : ArtiodactylaFamily : family Cervidae
A mule deer missing an antler. Deer loose their antlers each year and re-grow new ones from stem cells in the base of the antler.
subfamily & genera
The three subfamily and their genera and metal money are :
Capreolinae ( brocket cervid , caribou , deer , moose and relatives )
Cervinae ( elk , barking deer and tufted cervid )
Hydropotinae
Conservation status
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN ) , many deer species are currently endangered . The IUCN ’s Red List of Threatened Species includes theCalamian deer , Bawean cervid , Anhui musk deer , hog deerand thePersian fallow deer . The Père David ’s deer is extinct in the wilderness and now can only be detect in engrossed populations , agree to theIUCN .
Other facts
The Chinese water system deer is the only mintage that does n’t throw away its antler , because it does n’t have any . Instead , it has very long canid teeth that it uses to attract mates .
Musk deer are sometimes let in in Cervidae but are considered a separate folk ( Moschidae ) with one genus and four species , including therare and endangered Kashmir musk deer . They are found in central and northeastern Asia , according to ADW . They dissent from straight cervid in that they do n’t have antlers ; instead they have lamia - similar fangs . The males mature prospicient fangs that look like they belong on the Halloween spook . They use them to vie for females during mating season . It is sold for $ 20,455 per pound ( $ 45,000 per kilogram ) on the black food market , harmonise to the IUCN .
extra resources
