''Axis'' is a genus of

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

occurring in South and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

. As presently defined by most authorities, four species are placed in the genus. Three of the four species are called hog deer. The genus name is a word mentioned in

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

's Natural History.

Species

Following the third edition of '' Mammal Species of the World'' from 2005, which is also followed by the American Society of Mammalogists, four species are placed in ''Axis''. These four species are divided into two subgenera; ''Axis'' containing the chital, and ''Hyelaphus'' containing the 3 others.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q783065 Axis Cervines Mammal genera Taxa named by Charles Hamilton Smith