The Killdeer Mountains are a mountain range in Dunn County, North Dakota , United States . It consists of two mesas, North Mountain and South Mountain. Much of the range formation was caused by wind, river and lake erosion.
79-521: The Killdeer Mountains cover a surface of 26 square kilometers (10 sq mi). The highest peak reaches 3,281 ft (1,000 m), which is the highest point in the county. The range's name comes from the Native Americans, who used the area as a hunting ground for deer . The range was the scene of the Battle of Killdeer Mountain in 1864. In 1906, reports of volcanic activity were coming from
158-471: A clade sister to Cervidae. According to the study, Cervidae diverged from the Bovidae-Moschidae clade 27 to 28 million years ago. The following cladogram is based on the 2003 study. Tragulidae [REDACTED] Antilocapridae [REDACTED] Giraffidae [REDACTED] Cervidae [REDACTED] Bovidae [REDACTED] Calf (animal) A calf ( pl. : calves )
237-668: A kid . A castrated male is a havier . A group of any species is a herd . The adjective of relation is cervine ; like the family name Cervidae , this is from Latin : cervus , meaning ' stag ' or ' deer ' . 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
316-719: A liver without a gallbladder . Deer also have a tapetum lucidum , which gives them sufficiently good night vision . All male deer have antlers , with the exception of the water deer , in which males have long tusk-like canines that reach below the lower jaw. Females generally lack antlers, though female reindeer bear antlers smaller and less branched than those of the males. Occasionally females in other species may develop antlers, especially in telemetacarpal deer such as European roe deer, red deer, white-tailed deer and mule deer and less often in plesiometacarpal deer. A study of antlered female white-tailed deer noted that antlers tend to be small and malformed, and are shed frequently around
395-706: A beef heifer reaches puberty if she is well grown. Calves suffer from few congenital abnormalities but the Akabane virus is widely distributed in temperate to tropical regions of the world. The virus is a teratogenic pathogen which causes spontaneous abortions , stillbirths, premature births and congenital abnormalities, but occurs only during some years. Calves commonly face on-farm acquired diseases, often of infectious nature. Preweaned calves most commonly experience conditions such as diarrhea, omphalitis, lameness and respiratory diseases. Diarrhea, omphalitis and lameness are most common in calves aged up to two weeks, while
474-473: A bottle or bucket. Purebred female calves of dairy cows are reared as replacement dairy cows. Most purebred dairy calves are produced by artificial insemination (AI). By this method each bull can serve many cows, so only a very few of the purebred dairy male calves are needed to provide bulls for breeding. The remainder of the male calves may be reared for beef or veal. Only a proportion of purebred heifers are needed to provide replacement cows, so often some of
553-406: A broad central portion), white-tailed deer antlers include a series of tines sprouting upward from a forward-curving main beam, and those of the pudú are mere spikes. Antler development begins from the pedicel, a bony structure that appears on the top of the skull by the time the animal is a year old. The pedicel gives rise to a spiky antler the following year, that is replaced by a branched antler in
632-507: A calf of her own is called a heifer ( / ˈ h ɛ f ər / ). In the American Old West , a motherless or small, runty calf was sometimes referred to as a dodie. The term "calf" is also used for some other species. See " Other animals " below. Calves may be produced by natural means, or by artificial breeding using artificial insemination or embryo transfer . Calves are born after nine months. They usually stand within
711-456: A disease which in the UK in 2005 cost £90 million in attempts to eradicate. In New Zealand, deer are thought to be important as vectors picking up M. bovis in areas where brushtail possums Trichosurus vulpecula are infected, and transferring it to previously uninfected possums when their carcasses are scavenged elsewhere. The white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus has been confirmed as
790-483: A few minutes of calving, and suckle within an hour. However, for the first few days they are not easily able to keep up with the rest of the herd, so young calves are often left hidden by their mothers, who visit them several times a day to suckle them. By a week old the calf is able to follow the mother all the time. Some calves are ear tagged soon after birth, especially those that are stud cattle in order to correctly identify their dams (mothers), or in areas (such as
869-555: A nearly complete skeleton of Diacodexis discovered in 1982 gave rise to speculation that this ancestor could be closer to the non-ruminants than the ruminants. Andromeryx is another prominent prehistoric ruminant, but appears to be closer to the tragulids . The formation of the Himalayas and the Alps brought about significant geographic changes. This was the chief reason behind the extensive diversification of deer-like forms and
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#1732782423261948-614: A replacement dairy cow. Some dairy heifers grow up to be mothers of beef cattle. Male dairy calves are generally reared for beef or veal; relatively few are kept for use as breeding stock. In English , the term "calf" is used by extension for the young of various other large species of mammal . In addition to other bovid species (such as bison , yak and water buffalo ), these include the young of camels , dolphins , elephants , giraffes , hippopotamuses , deer (such as moose , elk (wapiti) and red deer ), rhinoceroses , porpoises , whales , walruses and larger seals . (Generally,
1027-543: A result of acclimatisation society releases in the 19th century, Australia has six introduced species of deer that have established sustainable wild populations. They are fallow deer, red deer, sambar, hog deer, rusa , and chital. Red deer were introduced into New Zealand in 1851 from English and Scottish stock. Many have been domesticated in deer farms since 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. Deer constitute
1106-497: A role in mythology , religion, and literature throughout history, as well as in heraldry , such as red deer that appear in the coat of arms of Åland . 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 the Middle Ages and remains a resource for many families today. The word deer
1185-490: A smaller form, but a combination of anthropogenic and climatic pressures is now thought to be the most likely culprit. Meanwhile, the moose and reindeer radiated into North America from Siberia. Deer constitute the artiodactyl family Cervidae. This family was first described by German zoologist Georg August Goldfuss in Handbuch der Zoologie (1820). Three subfamilies were recognised: Capreolinae (first described by
1264-783: A wide variety of vegetation. The teeth of deer are adapted to feeding on vegetation, and like other ruminants, they lack upper incisors , instead having a tough pad at the front of their upper jaw. Deer are browsers , and feed primarily on foliage of grasses , sedges , forbs , shrubs and trees , secondarily on lichens in northern latitudes during winter. They have small, unspecialized stomachs by ruminant standards, and high nutrition requirements. Rather than eating and digesting vast quantities of low-grade fibrous food as, for example, sheep and cattle do, deer select easily digestible shoots, young leaves, fresh grasses, soft twigs, fruit, fungi , and lichens . The low-fibered food, after minimal fermentation and shredding, passes rapidly through
1343-470: Is a yearling . The birth of a calf is known as calving . A calf that has lost its mother is an orphan calf, also known as a poddy or poddy-calf in British. Bobby calves are young calves which are to be slaughtered for human consumption. A vealer is a calf weighing less than about 330 kg (730 lb) which is at about eight to nine months of age. A young female calf from birth until she has had
1422-407: Is a young domestic cow or bull . Calves are reared to become adult cattle or are slaughtered for their meat, called veal , and their hide . The term calf is also used for some other species. See " Other animals " [1] below. "Calf" is the term used from birth to weaning , when it becomes known as a weaner or weaner calf , though in some areas the term "calf" may be used until the animal
1501-452: Is only slightly taller and heavier. Sexual dimorphism is quite pronounced – in most species males tend to be larger than females, and, except for the reindeer, only males have antlers. Coat colour generally varies between red and brown, though it can be as dark as chocolate brown in the tufted deer or have a grayish tinge as in elk. Different species of brocket deer vary from gray to reddish brown in coat colour. Several species such as
1580-405: Is preferred by some as it accustoms the weaners to the presence of people and they are trained to take feed other than grass. Small numbers may also be weaned with their dams with the use of weaning nose rings or nosebands which results in the mothers rejecting the calves' attempts to suckle. Many calves are also weaned when they are taken to the large weaner auction sales that are conducted in
1659-412: Is strong enough to walk with its mother. The fawn and its mother stay together for about one year. A male usually leaves and never sees his mother again, but females sometimes come back with their own fawns and form small herds. In some areas of the UK, deer (especially fallow deer due to their gregarious behaviour ) have been implicated as a possible reservoir for transmission of bovine tuberculosis ,
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#17327824232611738-501: Is the moose , which is nearly 2.6 metres (8 ft 6 in) tall and weighs up to 800 kilograms (1,800 lb). The elk stands 1.4–2 metres (4 ft 7 in – 6 ft 7 in) at the shoulder and weighs 240–450 kilograms (530–990 lb). The northern pudu is the smallest deer in the world; it reaches merely 32–35 centimetres ( 12 + 1 ⁄ 2 –14 in) at the shoulder and weighs 3.3–6 kilograms ( 7 + 1 ⁄ 4 – 13 + 1 ⁄ 4 lb). The southern pudu
1817-407: Is therefore expected to weigh about 250 to 270 kg (550 to 600 lb). Heifers will weigh at least 200 kg (440 lb) at eight months of age. Calves are usually weaned at about eight to nine months of age, but depending on the season and condition of the dam, they might be weaned earlier. They may be paddock weaned, often next to their mothers, or weaned in stockyards . The latter system
1896-648: Is used to make calfskin , or tanned into leather and called calf leather, or sometimes in the US "novillo", the Spanish term. The fourth compartment of the stomach of slaughtered milk-fed calves is the source of rennet . The intestine is used to make Goldbeater's skin , and is the source of Calf Intestinal Alkaline Phosphatase (CIP) . Dairy heifers and cows can only produce milk after having calved. Dairy cows need to produce one calf each year in order to remain in milk production. Heifer (female) calves will nearly always become
1975-647: The Barbary stag , a subspecies of red deer that is confined to the Atlas Mountains in the northwest of the continent. Another extinct species of deer, Megaceroides algericus , was present in North Africa until 6000 years ago. 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
2054-495: The Caucasus Mountains have forest areas that are not only home to sizable deer populations but also 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
2133-473: The EU ) where tagging is a legal requirement for cattle. Typically when the calves are about two months old they are branded, ear marked, castrated and vaccinated . The single suckler system of rearing calves is similar to that occurring naturally in wild cattle, where each calf is suckled by its own mother until it is weaned at about nine months old. This system is commonly used for rearing beef cattle throughout
2212-637: The Pleistocene have been excavated in China and the Himalayas. While Cervus and Dama appeared nearly 3 Mya, Axis emerged during the late Pliocene–Pleistocene. The tribes Capreolini and Rangiferini appeared around 4–7 Mya. Around 5 Mya, the rangiferina † Bretzia and † Eocoileus were the first cervids to reach North America. This implies the Bering Strait could be crossed during
2291-957: 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
2370-532: The Tethys Ocean disappeared to give way to vast stretches of grassland; these provided the deer with abundant protein-rich vegetation that led to the development of ornamental antlers and allowed populations to flourish and colonise areas. As antlers had become pronounced, the canines were either lost or became poorly represented (as in elk), probably because diet was no longer browse -dominated and antlers were better display organs. In muntjac and tufted deer,
2449-493: The merycodontines eventually gave rise to the modern pronghorn. The Cervinae emerged as the first group of extant cervids around 7–9 Mya, during the late Miocene in central Asia. The tribe Muntiacini made its appearance as † Muntiacus leilaoensis around 7–8 Mya; The early muntjacs varied in size–as small as hares or as large as fallow deer. They had tusks for fighting and antlers for defence. Capreolinae followed soon after; Alceini appeared 6.4–8.4 Mya. Around this period,
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2528-464: The photoperiod . 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 , do consume meat when it is available. 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
2607-499: The water deer ), as well as female reindeer, grow and shed new antlers each year. These antlers are bony extensions of the skull and are often used for combat between males. The musk deer ( Moschidae ) of Asia and chevrotains ( Tragulidae ) of tropical African and Asian forests are separate families that are also in the ruminant clade Ruminantia ; they are not especially closely related to Cervidae. Deer appear in art from Paleolithic cave paintings onwards, and they have played
2686-549: 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
2765-511: The Cervidae, are believed to have evolved from Diacodexis , the earliest known artiodactyl (even-toed ungulate), 50–55 Mya in the Eocene. Diacodexis , nearly the size of a rabbit , featured the talus bone characteristic of all modern even-toed ungulates . This ancestor and its relatives occurred throughout North America and Eurasia, but were on the decline by at least 46 Mya. Analysis of
2844-465: The English zoologist Joshua Brookes in 1828), Cervinae (described by Goldfuss) and Hydropotinae (first described by French zoologist Édouard Louis Trouessart in 1898). Other attempts at the classification of deer have been based on morphological and genetic differences. The Anglo-Irish naturalist Victor Brooke suggested in 1878 that deer could be bifurcated into two classes on the according to
2923-773: The European Dremotherium ; these sabre-toothed animals are believed to have been the direct ancestors of all modern antlered deer, though they themselves lacked antlers. Another contemporaneous form was the four-horned protoceratid Protoceras , that was replaced by Syndyoceras in the Miocene; these animals were unique in having a horn on the nose. Late Eocene fossils dated approximately 35 million years ago, which were found in North America, show that Syndyoceras had bony skull outgrowths that resembled non-deciduous antlers. Fossil evidence suggests that
3002-747: 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
3081-636: 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. Many national parks and protected reserves in Europe 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
3160-547: 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
3239-407: The alimentary canal. The deer require a large amount of minerals such as calcium and phosphate in order to support antler growth, and this further necessitates a nutrient-rich diet. There are some reports of deer engaging in carnivorous activity, such as eating dead alewives along lakeshores or depredating the nests of northern bobwhites . Nearly all cervids are so-called uniparental species:
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3318-618: The antlers as well as the canines are small. The tragulids have long canines to this day. With the onset of the Pliocene , the global climate became cooler. A fall in the sea-level led to massive glaciation; consequently, grasslands abounded in nutritious forage. Thus a new spurt in deer populations ensued. The oldest member of Cervini, † Cervocerus novorossiae , appeared around the transition from Miocene to Pliocene (4.2–6 Mya) in Eurasia; cervine fossils from early Pliocene to as late as
3397-875: The antlers create grooves that allow another male's antlers to lock into place. This allows the males to wrestle without risking injury to the face. Antlers are correlated to an individual's position in the social hierarchy and its behaviour. For instance, the heavier the antlers, the higher the individual's status in the social hierarchy, and the greater the delay in shedding the antlers; males with larger antlers tend to be more aggressive and dominant over others. Antlers can be an honest signal of genetic quality; males with larger antlers relative to body size tend to have increased resistance to pathogens and higher reproductive capacity. In elk in Yellowstone National Park , antlers also provide protection against predation by wolves . Homology of tines, that is,
3476-503: The basis of diploid number of chromosomes in the late 20th century has been flawed by several inconsistencies. In 1987, the zoologists Colin Groves and Peter Grubb identified three subfamilies: Cervinae, Hydropotinae and Odocoileinae; they noted that the hydropotines lack antlers, and the other two subfamilies differ in their skeletal morphology. They reverted from this classification in 2000. Molecular phylogenetic analyses since
3555-692: The branching structure of antlers among species, have been discussed before the 1900s. Recently, a new method to describe the branching structure of antlers and determining homology of tines was developed. Most deer bear 32 teeth; the corresponding dental formula is: 0.0.3.3 3.1.3.3 . The elk and the reindeer may be exceptions, as they may retain their upper canines and thus have 34 teeth (dental formula: 0.1.3.3 3.1.3.3 ). The Chinese water deer, tufted deer, and muntjac have enlarged upper canine teeth forming sharp tusks, while other species often lack upper canines altogether. The cheek teeth of deer have crescent ridges of enamel, which enable them to grind
3634-545: The calf under such systems may mean that it takes a longer time to rear, and in subsistence farming it is therefore common for cows to calve only in alternate years. In more intensive dairy farming , cows can easily be bred and fed to produce far more milk than one calf can drink. In the multi-suckler system, several calves are fostered onto one cow in addition to her own, and these calves' mothers can then be used wholly for milk production. More commonly, calves of dairy cows are fed formula milk from soon after birth, usually from
3713-405: The chital, the fallow deer and the sika deer feature white spots on a brown coat. Coat of reindeer shows notable geographical variation. Deer undergo two moults in a year; 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. Moulting is affected by
3792-431: The cows in dairy herds are put to a beef bull to produce crossbred calves suitable for rearing as beef. Veal calves may be reared entirely on milk formula and killed at about 18 or 20 weeks as "white" veal, or fed on grain and hay and killed at 22 to 35 weeks to produce red or pink veal. A commercial steer or bull calf is expected to put on about 32 to 36 kg (71 to 79 lb) per month. A nine-month-old steer or bull
3871-417: The earliest members of the superfamily Cervoidea appeared in Eurasia in the Miocene. Dicrocerus , Euprox and Heteroprox were probably the first antlered cervids. Dicrocerus featured single-forked antlers that were shed regularly. Stephanocemas had more developed and diffuse ("crowned") antlers. Procervulus ( Palaeomerycidae ) also had antlers that were not shed. Contemporary forms such as
3950-648: The early Eocene , and gradually developed into the first antlered cervoids (the superfamily of cervids and related extinct families) in the Miocene . Eventually, with the development of antlers, the tusks as well as the upper incisors disappeared. Thus, evolution of deer took nearly 30 million years. Biologist Valerius Geist suggests evolution to have occurred in stages. There are not many prominent fossils to trace this evolution, but only fragments of skeletons and antlers that might be easily confused with false antlers of non-cervid species. The ruminants , ancestors of
4029-690: The early Pleistocene, probably as a result of abundant resources to drive evolution. The early Pleistocene cervid † Eucladoceros was comparable in size to the modern elk. † Megaloceros (Pliocene–Pleistocene) featured the Irish elk ( M. giganteus ), one of the largest known cervids . The Irish elk reached 2 metres ( 6 + 1 ⁄ 2 ft) at the shoulder and had heavy antlers that spanned 3.6 metres (11 ft 10 in) from tip to tip. These large animals were traditionally thought to have faced extinction due to conflict between sexual selection for large antlers and body and natural selection for
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#17327824232614108-664: 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
4187-767: The emergence of cervids from the Oligocene to the early Pliocene . The latter half of the Oligocene (28–34 Mya) saw the appearance of the European Eumeryx and the North American Leptomeryx . The latter resembled modern-day bovids and cervids in dental morphology (for instance, it had brachyodont molars), while the former was more advanced . Other deer-like forms included the North American Blastomeryx and
4266-410: The end of their first winter. In the first twenty minutes of a fawn's life, the fawn begins to take its first steps. Its mother licks it clean until it is almost free of scent, so predators will not find it. Its mother leaves often to graze, and the fawn does not like to be left behind. Sometimes its mother must gently push it down with her foot. The fawn stays hidden in the grass for one week until it
4345-750: 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
4424-1000: 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 National Parks, including Doñana National Park in Spain , the Veluwe in the Netherlands , the Ardennes in Belgium , and Białowieża National Park in Poland . Spain , Eastern Europe , and
4503-417: The features of the second and fifth metacarpal bones of their forelimbs: Plesiometacarpalia (most Old World deer) and Telemetacarpalia (most New World deer). He treated the musk deer as a cervid, placing it under Telemetacarpalia. While the telemetacarpal deer showed only those elements located far from the joint, the plesiometacarpal deer retained the elements closer to the joint as well. Differentiation on
4582-531: 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 . The Eurasian Continent (including
4661-427: The frequency of respiratory diseases tends to increase with age. These conditions also display seasonal patterns, with omphalitis being more common in the summer months, and respiratory diseases and diarrhea occurring more frequently in the fall. Calf meat for human consumption is called veal , and is usually produced from the male calves of dairy cattle . Also eaten are calf's brains and calf liver . The hide
4740-510: The late Miocene–Pliocene; this appears highly probable as the camelids migrated into Asia from North America around the same time. Deer invaded South America in the late Pliocene (2.5–3 Mya) as part of the Great American Interchange , thanks to the recently formed Isthmus of Panama , and emerged successful due to the small number of competing ruminants in the continent. Large deer with impressive antlers evolved during
4819-450: The latter half of the 2000s all show that hydropotes is a sister taxon of Capreolus , and “Hydropotinae” became outdated subfamily. Until 2003, it was understood that the family Moschidae (musk deer) was sister to Cervidae. Then a phylogenetic study by Alexandre Hassanin (of National Museum of Natural History, France ) and colleagues, based on mitochondrial and nuclear analyses, revealed that Moschidae and Bovidae form
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#17327824232614898-477: The modern English sense by the end of the Middle English period, around 1500. All modern Germanic languages save English and Scots retain the more general sense: for example, Dutch / Frisian dier , German Tier , and Norwegian dyr mean ' animal ' . For many types of deer in modern English usage, the male is a buck and the female a doe , but the terms vary with dialect, and according to
4977-413: 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
5056-637: The mountains. However, no geological evidence has proven a confirmed volcano in the area. This North Dakota location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Deer A deer ( pl. : deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family ). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac , elk (wapiti), red deer , and fallow deer ) and Capreolinae (which includes, among others reindeer (caribou), white-tailed deer , roe deer , and moose ). Male deer of almost all species (except
5135-649: 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
5214-402: The right spot and never really find it." Deer appear to be immune to this parasite; it passes through the digestive system and is excreted in the feces. The parasite is not screened by the moose intestine, and passes into the brain where damage is done that is externally apparent, both in behaviour and in gait. Deer, elk and moose in North America may suffer from chronic wasting disease , which
5293-417: The second most diverse family of artiodactyla after bovids. 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. Characteristics typical of deer include long, powerful legs, a diminutive tail and long ears. Deer exhibit a broad variation in physical proportions. The largest extant deer
5372-399: The size of the species. The male red deer is a stag , while for other large species the male is a bull , the female a cow , as in cattle. In older usage, the male of any species is a hart , especially if over five years old, and the female is a hind , especially if three or more years old. The young of small species is a fawn and of large species a calf ; a very small young may be
5451-476: The sole maintenance host in the Michigan outbreak of bovine tuberculosis which remains a significant barrier to the US nationwide eradication of the disease in livestock. Moose and deer can carry rabies . Docile moose may suffer from brain worm , a helminth which drills holes through the brain in its search for a suitable place to lay its eggs. A government biologist states that "They move around looking for
5530-510: The south eastern states of Australia. Victoria and New South Wales have yardings (sale yard numbers) of up to 8,000 weaners (calves) for auction sale in one day. The best of these weaners may go to the butchers. Others will be purchased by re-stockers to grow out and fatten on grass or as potential breeders. In the United States these weaners may be known as feeders and would be placed directly into feedlots . At about 12 months old
5609-574: The third year. This process of losing a set of antlers to develop a larger and more branched set continues for the rest of the life. The antlers emerge as soft tissues (known as velvet antlers ) and progressively harden into bony structures (known as hard antlers), following mineralisation and blockage of blood vessels in the tissue, from the tip to the base. Antlers might be one of the most exaggerated male secondary sexual characteristics , and are intended primarily for reproductive success through sexual selection and for combat. The tines (forks) on
5688-541: The time of parturition. The fallow deer and the various subspecies of the reindeer have the largest as well as the heaviest antlers, both in absolute terms as well as in proportion to body mass (an average of eight grams per kilogram of body mass); the tufted deer, on the other hand, has the smallest antlers of all deer, while the pudú has the lightest antlers with respect to body mass (0.6 g per kilogram of body mass). The structure of antlers show considerable variation; while fallow deer and elk antlers are palmate (with
5767-456: 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. As
5846-454: The world. Cows kept on poor forage (as is typical in subsistence farming ) produce a limited amount of milk. A calf left with such a mother all the time can easily drink all the milk, leaving none for human consumption. For dairy production under such circumstances, the calf's access to the cow must be limited, for example by penning the calf and bringing the mother to it once a day after partly milking her. The small amount of milk available for
5925-512: 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. Access to adjacent croplands may also benefit deer. 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,
6004-547: The young, known in most species as fawns, are only cared for by the mother, most often called a doe. A doe generally has one or two fawns at a time (triplets, while not unknown, are uncommon). Mating season typically begins in later August and lasts until December. Some species mate until early March. The gestation period is anywhere up to ten months for the European roe deer. Most fawns are born with their fur covered with white spots, though in many species they lose these spots by
6083-513: Was identified at a Colorado laboratory in the 1960s and is believed to be a prion disease. Out of an abundance of caution hunters are advised to avoid contact with specified risk material (SRM) such as the brain, spinal column or lymph nodes. Deboning the meat when butchering and sanitizing the knives and other tools used to butcher are amongst other government recommendations. Deer are believed to have evolved from antlerless, tusked ancestors that resembled modern duikers and diminutive deer in
6162-474: 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 ,
6241-423: Was originally broad in meaning, becoming more specific with time. Old English dēor and Middle English der meant a wild animal of any kind. Cognates of Old English dēor in other dead Germanic languages have the general sense of animal , such as Old High German tior , Old Norse djur or dȳr , Gothic dius , Old Saxon dier , and Old Frisian diar . This general sense gave way to
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