Difference between revisions of "Deer" - New World Encyclopedia

Revision as of 16:48, 27 November 2006

Deer

Male White-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Suborder:	Ruminantia
Family:	Cervidae Goldfuss, 1820

Subfamilies

Capreolinae
Cervinae
Hydropotinae
Muntiacinae

Deer are members of the Cervidae family of the order Artiodactyla, or even-toed hoofed mammals. Deer are mainly native to the Northern Hemisphere, in both the Old and the New World, where they are one of the most successful families of large animals. They are especially notable in that almost all species have antlers, something that is found in no other animal family. The closely related musk deer of the Moschidae family and the mouse deer of the Tragulidae family do not have antlers.

Description and behavior

Deer are widely distributed with representatives in all continents except Australia, Antarctica, and Africa. Most species of deer live in forested or partly wooded areas. Deer are selective feeders. They feed on leaves. They have small, unspecialised stomachs by herbivore standards, and high nutrition requirements: ingesting sufficient minerals to grow a new pair of antlers every year is a significant task. Rather than attempt to digest 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.

Deer in zoo

Deer differ from other ruminants in that they have antlers instead of horns. Antlers are bony growths that develop each year (usually in summer) and, in general, it is only male deer that develop them (although there are exceptions). A young buck's first pair of antlers grow from two tiny bumps on their head that they have had from birth. The antlers grow wrapped in a thick layer of velvet and remain that way for one month, until the bone inside is hard; later the velvet is shed. During the mating season, bucks use their antlers to fight one another for the opportunity to attract mates in a given herd. The two bucks circle each other, bend back their legs, lower their heads, and charge.

A doe generally has one or two fawns at a time (triplets, while not unusual, are much more infrequent). The gestation period is anywhere between 160 days (just over 5 months) in the musk deer to ten months for the roe deer. Most fawns are born with their fur covered with white spots, though they lose their spots once they get older (excluding the Fallow Deer who keeps its spots for life). 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, 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 is strong enough to walk with its mother. After two days, a fawn is able to walk, and by three weeks it can run and jump. The fawn and its mother stay together for about one year. They then go their separate ways. A male usually never sees his mother again, but females sometimes come back with their own fawns and form small herds.

Deer generally have lithe, compact bodies and long, powerful legs suited for rugged woodland terrain. Deer are also excellent swimmers. Their lower cheek teeth have crescent ridges of enamel, which enable them to grind a wide variety of vegetation. Deer are ruminants or cud-chewers and have a four-chambered stomach. Nearly all deer have a facial gland in front of each eye. The gland contains a strongly scented substance called pheromone, used to mark its home range. Bucks of a wide range of species open these glands wide when angry or excited. Except for the musk deer, all deer have a liver without a gallbladder. The musk deer, along with the Chinese water deer also differ from other species in that they have no antlers and bear upper canines developed into tusks.

Deer and humans

Deer have long had economic significance to humans. While they are generally not as easily domesticated as sheep, goats, pigs, and even cattle, the association between people and deer is very old. Deer meat, for which they are hunted and farmed, is called venison.

Musk, which comes from the gland on the abdomen of musk deer, is used in medicenes and perfumes. Deerskin is used for shoes, boots, and gloves, and antlers are made into buttons and knife handles. The Saami of Scandinavia and the Kola Peninsula of Russia and other nomadic peoples of northern Asia used reindeer for food, clothing, and transport. The caribou is not domesticated or herded as is the case in Europe but is important to the Inuit. Most commercial vension in the United States is imported from New Zealand. Deer were originally brought to New Zealand by European settlers, and the deer population rose rapidly. This caused great environmental damage and was controlled by hunting and poisoning until the concept of deer farming in the 1960s. Deer farms in New Zealand number more than 3,500, with more than 400,000 deer in all.

Genera and species of deer

There are about 34 species of deer worldwide, divided into two broad groups: the old world group includes the subfamilies Muntiacinae and Cervinae; the new world deer the subfamilies Hydropotinae and Capreolinae. Note that the terms indicate the origin of the groups, not their modern distribution: the Water Deer, for example, is a new world species but is found only in China and Korea.

It is thought that the new world group evolved about 5 million years ago in the forests of North America and Siberia, the old world deer in Asia.

The family Cervidae is organized as follows:

Subfamily Hydropotinae
- Chinese Water Deer (Hydroptes inermis)
Subfamily Muntiacinae (mostly Muntjacs)
- Bornean Yellow Muntjac (Muntiacus atherodes)
- Black Muntjac (Muntiacus crinifrons)
- Fea's Muntjac (Muntiacus feae)
- Gongshan Muntjac (Muntiacus gongshanensis)
- Indian Muntjac (Muntiacus muntjac)
- Leaf Muntjac (Muntiacus putaoensis)
- Reeves' Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi)
- Truong Son Muntjac (Muntiacus trungsonensis)
- Giant Muntjac (Muntiacus vuquangensis)
- Tufted Deer (Elaphodus cephalophus)

Fawn

Subfamily Cervinae
- White-lipped Deer or Thorold's Deer (Cervus albirostris)
- Philippine Spotted Deer or Visayan Spotted Deer (Cervus alfredi)
- Barasingha (Cervus duvaucelii)
- Red Deer (Cervus elaphus; called elk or wapiti in America)
- Thamin (Cervus eldii)
- Philippine Sambar or Philippine Brown Deer (Cervus mariannus)
- Sika Deer (Cervus nippon)
- Schomburgk's Deer (Cervus schomburgki) (extinct, 1938)
- Sunda Sambar]] or Rusa deer (Cervus timorensis)
- Sambar Deer (Cervus unicolor)
- Chital (Axis axis)
- Calamian Deer (Axis calamianensis)
- Bawean Deer (Axis kuhlii)
- Hog Deer (Axis porcinus)
- Père David's Deer (Elaphurus davidianus)
- Fallow Deer (Dama dama)
- Persian Fallow Deer (Dama mesopotamica)

Pudú, the smallest deer in the world

Subfamily Capreolinae
- Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus)
- Moose, called Elk in Europe (Alces alces)
- Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus)
- White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
- Pampas Deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus)
- Red Brocket (Mazama americana)
- Merioa Brocket (Mazama bricenii)
- Dwarf Brocket (Mazama chunyi)
- Grey Brocket (Mazama gouazoubira)
- Pygmy Brocket (Mazama nana)
- Yucatan Brown Brocket (Mazama pandora)
- Little Red Brocket (Mazama rufina)
- Northern Pudu (Pudu mephistophiles)
- Southern Pudu (Pudu pudu)
- Marsh Deer (Blastocerus dichotomus)
- Peruvian Guemal or North Andean Deer (Hippocamelus antisensis)
- Chilean Huemul or South Andean Deer (Hippocamelus bisulcus)
- Caribou or Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)

File:Deer warning sign.jpg

Deer are known to jump in front of moving automobiles suddenly, hence this road sign.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Clutton-Brook, J. 1999. A Natural History of Domesticated Mammals. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521634954
Bauer, E. 1995. Elk: behavior, ecology, conservation. Stillwater, MN : Voyageur Press ISBN 0896582742
Forsyth, A. 1999. Mammals of North America. Buffalo, NY : Firefly Books Ltd ISBN 155209409X
Geist, V. 1999. Moose: behavior, ecology, conservation. Stillwater, MN : Voyageur Press ISBN 0896584224
Huffman, B. 2006 The Ultimate Ungulate Page Website [1]
Nowak, R. M. and J. L. Paradiso. 1983. Walker's Mammals of the World. Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0801825253
University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP) 2006. Ungulates: Hoofed Mammals
Voelker, W. 1986. The Natural History of Living Mammals. Medford, New Jersey: Plexus Publishing, Inc. ISBN 0937548081

Credits

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Taxobox_begin | color = pink | name = Deer}}
-{{Taxobox_image | image = [[image:Deervelvet.jpg|250px]] | caption = }}
+{{Taxobox_image | image = [[Image:White-tailed deer.jpg|250px]] | caption = Male White-tailed deer, ''Odocoileus virginianus'' }}
 {{Taxobox_begin_placement | color = pink}}
 {{Taxobox_regnum_entry | taxon = [[Animal]]ia}}
@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 [[Muntiacinae]]
 {{Taxobox_end}}
-'''Deer''' are members of the Cervidae family of the order [[Ungulate|Artiodactyla]], or even-toed hoofed [[mammal]]s.  Deer are mainly native to the Northern Hemisphere, in both the Old and the New World, where they are one of the most successful families of large animals.  They are ruminants, cud-chewing animals, and are especially notable in that almost all species have antlers, something that is found in no other animal family.  Some other related animals are also called deer: the musk deer of the Moschidae family and the mouse deer of the Tragulidae family.  However they do not have antlers.
+'''Deer''' are members of the Cervidae family of the order [[Ungulate|Artiodactyla]], or even-toed hoofed [[mammal]]s.  Deer are mainly native to the Northern Hemisphere, in both the Old and the New World, where they are one of the most successful families of large animals.  They are especially notable in that almost all species have antlers, something that is found in no other animal family.  The closely related musk deer of the Moschidae family and the mouse deer of the Tragulidae family do not have antlers.
 ==Description and behavior==
-[[Image:White-tailed deer.jpg|thumb|left|250px|White-tailed deer]]
+Deer are widely distributed with representatives in all continents except [[Australia]], [[Antarctica]], and [[Africa]]. Most species of deer live in forested or partly wooded areas. Deer are selective feeders. They feed on [[leaf|leaves]]. They have small, unspecialised [[stomach]]s by [[herbivore]] standards, and high nutrition requirements: ingesting sufficient minerals to grow a new pair of antlers every year is a significant task. Rather than attempt to digest vast quantities of low-grade, fibrous food as, for example, [[sheep]] and [[cattle]] do, deer select easily digestible shoots, young leaves, fresh [[grasses]], soft [[twig]]s, [[fruit]], [[fungi]], and [[lichen]]s.
+[[Image:Deer_Melbourne_Zoo.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Deer in zoo]]
-Deer are widely distributed, and hunted, with representatives in all continents except [[Australia]], [[Antarctica]], and [[Africa]]. Australia does have six [[introduced species]] of deer that have established sustainable wild populations from Acclimatisation Society releases in the 19th Century. These are [[Fallow Deer]], [[Red Deer]], [[Sambar Deer]], [[Hog Deer]], [[Rusa deer]], and [[Chital Deer]][http://rubens.anu.edu.au/student.projects/rabbits/wildanim.html]. Although exotic to the continent, environmental factors restrict their ranges to habitable patches, thereby preventing any one species from becoming a serious pest. Red Deer introduced into [[New Zealand]] in early 1900s (a gift from United States President [[Theodore Roosevelt]]) have been largely domesticated in [[deer farm]]s since the late 1960s and are common farm animals there now.
+Deer differ from other ruminants in that they have [[antler]]s instead of [[horn (anatomy)|horn]]s. Antlers are bony growths that develop each year (usually in summer) and, in general, it is only male deer that develop them (although there are exceptions). A young buck's first pair of antlers grow from two tiny bumps on their head that they have had from birth. The antlers grow wrapped in a thick layer of velvet and remain that way for one month, until the bone inside is hard; later the velvet is shed. During the mating season, bucks use their antlers to fight one another for the opportunity to attract mates in a given herd.  The two bucks circle each other, bend back their legs, lower their heads, and charge.
-[[Image:Deer_Melbourne_Zoo.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Deer walking]]
+A doe generally has one or two fawns at a time (triplets, while not unusual, are much more infrequent). The gestation period is anywhere between 160 days (just over 5 months) in the [[musk deer]] to ten months for the [[roe deer]]. Most fawns are born with their fur covered with white spots, though they lose their spots once they get older (excluding the Fallow Deer who keeps its spots for life). 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, 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 is strong enough to walk with its mother. After two days, a fawn is able to walk, and by three weeks it can run and jump. The fawn and its mother stay together for about one year. They then go their separate ways. A male usually never sees his mother again, but females sometimes come back with their own fawns and form small herds.
-Deer differ from other ruminants in that they have [[antler]]s instead of [[horn (anatomy)|horn]]s. Antlers are bony growths that develop each year (usually in summer) and, in general, it is only male deer that develop them (although there are exceptions). A young buck's first pair of antlers grow from two tiny bumps on their head that they have had from birth. The antlers grow wrapped in a thick layer of velvet and remain that way for one month, until the bone inside is hard; later the velvet is shed. During the mating season, bucks use their antlers to fight one another for the opportunity to attract mates in a given herd.  The two bucks circle each other, bend back their legs, lower their heads, and charge.
+Deer generally have lithe, compact bodies and long, powerful legs suited for rugged woodland terrain. Deer are also excellent swimmers. Their lower cheek teeth have crescent ridges of enamel, which enable them to grind a wide variety of vegetation. Deer are ruminants or cud-chewers and have a four-chambered stomach. Nearly all deer have a facial gland in front of each eye. The gland contains a strongly scented substance called [[pheromone]], used to mark its home range. Bucks of a wide range of species open these glands wide when angry or excited. Except for the [[musk deer]], all deer have a [[liver]] without a [[gallbladder]]. The musk deer, along with the [[Chinese water deer]] also differ from other species in that they have no antlers and bear upper canines developed into tusks.
-A doe generally has one or two fawns at a time (triplets, while not unusual, are much more infrequent). The gestation period is anywhere between 160 days (just over 5 months) in the [[musk deer]] to ten months for the [[roe deer]]. Most fawns are born with their fur covered with white spots, though they lose their spots once they get older (excluding the Fallow Deer who keeps its spots for life). 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, 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 is strong enough to walk with its mother. After two days, a fawn is able to walk, and by three weeks it can run and jump. The fawn and its mother stay together for about one year. They then go their separate ways. A male usually never sees his mother again, but females sometimes come back with their own fawns and form small herds.
+==Deer and humans==
+Deer have long had economic significance to humans. While they are generally not as easily domesticated as [[sheep]], [[goat]]s, [[pig]]s, and even [[cattle]], the association between people and deer is very old. Deer meat, for which they are hunted and farmed, is called [[venison]].
-Deer generally have lithe, compact bodies and long, powerful legs suited for rugged woodland terrain. Deer are also excellent swimmers. Their lower cheek teeth have crescent ridges of enamel, which enable them to grind a wide variety of vegetation. Deer are ruminants or cud-chewers and have a four-chambered stomach. Nearly all deer have a facial gland in front of each eye. The gland contains a strongly scented substance called [[pheromone]], used to mark its home range. Bucks of a wide range of species open these glands wide when angry or excited. Except for the [[musk deer]], all deer have a [[liver]] without a [[gallbladder]]. The musk deer, along with the [[Chinese water deer]] also differ from other species in that they have no antlers and bear upper canines developed into tusks.
+[[Musk]], which comes from the gland on the [[abdomen]] of musk deer, is used in medicenes and perfumes. Deerskin is used for shoes, boots, and gloves, and antlers are made into buttons and knife handles. The [[Sami people|Saami]] of [[Scandinavia]] and the [[Kola Peninsula]] of [[Russia]] and other nomadic peoples of northern [[Asia]] used [[reindeer]] for food, clothing, and transport. The [[caribou]] is not domesticated or herded as is the case in [[Europe]] but is important to the [[Inuit]]. Most commercial vension in the [[United States]] is imported from [[New Zealand]]. Deer were originally brought to New Zealand by European settlers, and the deer population rose rapidly. This caused great environmental damage and was controlled by hunting and poisoning until the concept of deer farming in the 1960s. Deer farms in New Zealand number more than 3,500, with more than 400,000 deer in all.
-[[image:deerwindow.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Fawn]]
+==Genera and species of deer==
-There are about 34 [[species]] of deer worldwide, divided into two broad groups: the old world group includes the subfamilies Muntiacinae and Cervinae; the new world deer the subfamilies Hydropotinae and Capreolinae. Note that the terms indicate the origin of the groups, not their modern distribution: the [[Water Deer]], for example, is a new world species but is found only in [[China]] and [[Korea]].
+There are about 34 [[species]] of deer worldwide, divided into two broad groups: the old world group includes the subfamilies Muntiacinae and Cervinae; the new world deer the subfamilies Hydropotinae and Capreolinae. Note that the terms indicate the origin of the groups, not their modern distribution: the Water Deer, for example, is a new world species but is found only in [[China]] and [[Korea]].
 It is thought that the new world group evolved about 5 million years ago in the forests of [[North America]] and [[Siberia]], the old world deer in [[Asia]].
-==Genera and species of deer==
 The family Cervidae is organized as follows:
 *Subfamily Hydropotinae
-**[[Chinese Water Deer]] (''Hydroptes inermis'')
+**Chinese Water Deer (''Hydroptes inermis'')
-*Subfamily Muntiacinae (mostly [[Muntjac]]s)
+*Subfamily Muntiacinae (mostly Muntjacs)
-**[[Bornean Yellow Muntjac]] (''Muntiacus atherodes'')
+**Bornean Yellow Muntjac (''Muntiacus atherodes'')
-**[[Black Muntjac]] (''Muntiacus crinifrons'')
+**Black Muntjac (''Muntiacus crinifrons'')
-**[[Fea's Muntjac]] (''Muntiacus feae'')
+**Fea's Muntjac (''Muntiacus feae'')
-**[[Gongshan Muntjac]] (''Muntiacus gongshanensis'')
+**Gongshan Muntjac (''Muntiacus gongshanensis'')
-**[[Indian Muntjac]] (''Muntiacus muntjac'')
+**Indian Muntjac (''Muntiacus muntjac'')
-**[[Leaf Muntjac]] (''Muntiacus putaoensis'')
+**Leaf Muntjac (''Muntiacus putaoensis'')
-**[[Reeves' Muntjac]] (''Muntiacus reevesi'')
+**Reeves' Muntjac (''Muntiacus reevesi'')
-**[[Truong Son Muntjac]] (''Muntiacus trungsonensis'')
+**Truong Son Muntjac (''Muntiacus trungsonensis'')
-**[[Giant Muntjac]] (''Muntiacus vuquangensis'')
+**Giant Muntjac (''Muntiacus vuquangensis'')
-**[[Tufted Deer]] (''Elaphodus cephalophus'')
+**Tufted Deer (''Elaphodus cephalophus'')
 [[image:Fawn_in_Forest_edit.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Fawn]]
 *Subfamily Cervinae
-**[[White-lipped Deer]] or [[Thorold's Deer]] (''Cervus albirostris'')
+**White-lipped Deer or Thorold's Deer (''Cervus albirostris'')
-**[[Philippine Spotted Deer]] or [[Visayan Spotted Deer]] (''Cervus alfredi'')
+**Philippine Spotted Deer or Visayan Spotted Deer (''Cervus alfredi'')
-**[[Barasingha]] (''Cervus duvaucelii'')
+**Barasingha (''Cervus duvaucelii'')
-**[[Red Deer]] (''Cervus elaphus''; called elk or wapiti in America)
+**Red Deer (''Cervus elaphus''; called elk or wapiti in America)
-**[[Thamin]] (''Cervus eldii'')
+**Thamin (''Cervus eldii'')
-**[[Philippine Sambar]] or [[Philippine Brown Deer]] (''Cervus mariannus'')
+**Philippine Sambar or Philippine Brown Deer (''Cervus mariannus'')
-**[[Sika Deer]] (''Cervus nippon'')
+**Sika Deer (''Cervus nippon'')
-**[[Schomburgk's Deer]] (''Cervus schomburgki'') ([[Extinction|extinct]], [[1938]])
+**Schomburgk's Deer (''Cervus schomburgki'') ([[Extinction|extinct]], [[1938]])
-**[[Rusa deer|Sunda Sambar]] or [[Rusa deer]] (''Cervus timorensis'')
+**Sunda Sambar]] or Rusa deer (''Cervus timorensis'')
-**[[Sambar Deer]] (''Cervus unicolor'')
+**Sambar Deer (''Cervus unicolor'')
-**[[Chital]] (''Axis axis'')
+**Chital (''Axis axis'')
-**[[Calamian Deer]] (''Axis calamianensis'')
+**Calamian Deer (''Axis calamianensis'')
-**[[Bawean Deer]] (''Axis kuhlii'')
+**Bawean Deer (''Axis kuhlii'')
-**[[Hog Deer]] (''Axis porcinus'')
+**Hog Deer (''Axis porcinus'')
-**[[Père David's Deer]] (''Elaphurus davidianus'')
+**Père David's Deer (''Elaphurus davidianus'')
-**[[Fallow Deer]] (''Dama dama'')
+**Fallow Deer (''Dama dama'')
-**[[Persian Fallow Deer]] (''Dama mesopotamica'')
+**Persian Fallow Deer (''Dama mesopotamica'')
-[[Image:Pudu pudu AB.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Pudú]], the smallest deer in the world]]
+[[Image:Bristol.zoo.southern.pudu.arp.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Pudú, the smallest deer in the world]]
 *Subfamily Capreolinae
-**[[Roe Deer]] (''Capreolus capreolus'')
+**Roe Deer (''Capreolus capreolus'')
-**[[Moose]] (''Alces alces'')
+**Moose, called Elk in Europe (''Alces alces'')
-**[[Mule Deer]] (''Odocoileus hemionus'')
+**Mule Deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'')
-**[[White-tailed Deer]] (''Odocoileus virginianus'')
+**White-tailed Deer (''Odocoileus virginianus'')
-**[[Pampas Deer]] (''Ozotoceros bezoarticus'')
+**Pampas Deer (''Ozotoceros bezoarticus'')
-**[[Red Brocket]] (''Mazama americana'')
+**Red Brocket (''Mazama americana'')
-**[[Merioa Brocket]] (''Mazama bricenii'')
+**Merioa Brocket (''Mazama bricenii'')
-**[[Dwarf Brocket]] (''Mazama chunyi'')
+**Dwarf Brocket (''Mazama chunyi'')
-**[[Grey Brocket]] (''Mazama gouazoubira'')
+**Grey Brocket (''Mazama gouazoubira'')
-**[[Pygmy Brocket]] (''Mazama nana'')
+**Pygmy Brocket (''Mazama nana'')
-**[[Yucatan Brown Brocket]] (''Mazama pandora'')
+**Yucatan Brown Brocket (''Mazama pandora'')
-**[[Little Red Brocket]] (''Mazama rufina'')
+**Little Red Brocket (''Mazama rufina'')
-**Northern [[Pudu]] (''Pudu mephistophiles'')
+**Northern Pudu (''Pudu mephistophiles'')
-**Southern [[Pudu]] (''Pudu pudu'')
+**Southern Pudu (''Pudu pudu'')
-**[[Marsh Deer]] (''Blastocerus dichotomus'')
+**Marsh Deer (''Blastocerus dichotomus'')
-**[[Peruvian Guemal]] or [[North Andean Deer]] (''Hippocamelus antisensis'')
+**Peruvian Guemal or North Andean Deer (''Hippocamelus antisensis'')
-**[[Chilean Huemul]] or [[South Andean Deer]] (''Hippocamelus bisulcus'')
+**Chilean Huemul or South Andean Deer (''Hippocamelus bisulcus'')
-**[[Caribou]]/[[Reindeer]] (''Rangifer tarandus'')
+**Caribou or Reindeer (''Rangifer tarandus'')
-Deer are selective feeders. They feed on [[leaf|leaves]]. They have small, unspecialised [[stomach]]s by [[herbivore]] standards, and high nutrition requirements: ingesting sufficient minerals to grow a new pair of antlers every year is a significant task. Rather than attempt to digest vast quantities of low-grade, fibrous food as, for example, [[sheep]] and [[cattle]] do, deer select easily digestible shoots, young leaves, fresh [[grasses]], soft [[twig]]s, [[fruit]], [[fungi]], and [[lichen]]s.
-Deer have long had economic significance to humans. While they are generally not as easily domesticated as [[sheep]], [[goat]]s, [[pig]]s, and even [[cattle]], the association between people and deer is very old. Deer meat, for which they are hunted and farmed, is called [[venison]].
-[[Musk]], which comes from the gland on the [[abdomen]] of musk deer, is used in medicenes and perfumes. Deerskin is used for shoes, boots, and gloves, and antlers are made into buttons and knife handles. The [[Sami people|Saami]] of [[Scandinavia]] and the [[Kola Peninsula]] of [[Russia]] and other nomadic peoples of northern [[Asia]] used [[reindeer]] for food, clothing, and transport. The [[caribou]] is not domesticated or herded as is the case in [[Europe]] but is important to the [[Inuit]]. Most commercial vension in the [[United States]] is imported from [[New Zealand]]. Deer were originally brought to New Zealand by European settlers, and the deer population rose rapidly. This caused great environmental damage and was controlled by hunting and poisoning until the concept of deer farming in the 1960s. Deer farms in New Zealand number more than 3,500, with more than 400,000 deer in all.
 [[Image:Deer warning sign.jpg|thumb|right|225px|Deer are known to jump in front of moving automobiles suddenly, hence this road sign.]]
@@ Line 102: / Line 97: @@
 *Clutton-Brook, J. 1999. ''A Natural History of Domesticated Mammals''. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521634954
 *Bauer, E. 1995. ''Elk: behavior, ecology, conservation''. Stillwater, MN : Voyageur Press ISBN 0896582742
-*Forsyth, A. 1999. "Mammals of North America''. Buffalo, NY : Firefly Books Ltd ISBN 155209409X
+*Forsyth, A. 1999. ''Mammals of North America''. Buffalo, NY : Firefly Books Ltd ISBN 155209409X
 *Geist, V. 1999. ''Moose: behavior, ecology, conservation''. Stillwater, MN : Voyageur Press  ISBN 0896584224
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