The Cervinae or the Old World deer, are a

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

deer A deer (: 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) ...

. Alternatively, they are known as the plesiometacarpal deer, due to having lost the parts of the second and fifth

metacarpal In human anatomy, the metacarpal bones or metacarpus, also known as the "palm bones", are the appendicular bones that form the intermediate part of the hand between the phalanges (fingers) and the carpal bones ( wrist bones), which articulate ...

bones closest to the foot (though retaining the parts away from the foot), distinct from the telemetacarpal deer of the

Capreolinae The Capreolinae, Odocoileinae, or the New World deer are a subfamily of deer. Alternatively, they are known as the telemetacarpal deer, due to their bone structure being different from the plesiometacarpal deer subfamily Cervinae. The telemetaca ...

(which have instead retained these parts of those metacarpals, while losing the parts away from the foot instead).

Classification and species

The following species are recognised in extant genera:Alvarez D. (2007) * Tribe Muntiacini ** Genus ''

Elaphodus The tufted deer (''Elaphodus cephalophus'') is a small species of deer characterized by a prominent tuft of black hair on its forehead and fang-like canines for the males. It is a close relative of the muntjac, living somewhat further north over ...

'' ***

Tufted deer The tufted deer (''Elaphodus cephalophus'') is a small species of deer characterized by a prominent tuft of black hair on its forehead and fang-like canines for the males. It is a close relative of the muntjac, living somewhat further north over ...

(''E. cephalophus'') ** Genus ''

Muntiacus Muntjacs ( ), also known as the barking deer or rib-faced deer, (URL is Google Books) are small deer of the genus ''Muntiacus'' native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Muntjacs are thought to have begun appearing 15–35 million years ago, ...

'' ***

Bornean yellow muntjac The Bornean yellow muntjac (''Muntiacus atherodes'') is a muntjac deer species, endemic to the moist forests of the island of Borneo. Taxonomy It lives alongside the common muntjac. It is similar to its much more common cousin and was only reco ...

(''M. atherodes'') *** Hairy-fronted muntjac (''M. crinifrons'') ***

Fea's muntjac Fea's muntjac (''Muntiacus feae'') or the Tenasserim muntjac, is a rare species of muntjac native to southern Myanmar and Thailand. It is a similar size to the common muntjac (adult weight is 18 – 21 kg (40 – 46 lb)). It is diurnal ...

(''M. feae'') ***

Gongshan muntjac The Gongshan muntjac (''Muntiacus gongshanensis'') is a species of muntjac (a type of deer) living in the Gongshan mountains in northwestern Yunnan, southeast Tibet, Northeast India (especially in Arunachal Pradesh) and northern Myanmar. Ongoin ...

(''M. gongshanensis'') ***

Indian muntjac The Northern red muntjac (''Muntiacus vaginalis'') is a species of muntjac. It is found in numerous countries of south-central and southeast Asia. The northern red muntjac inhabits various forest types, from tropical rainforests to deciduous an ...

(''M. muntjak'') ***

Sumatran muntjac The Sumatran muntjac (''Muntiacus muntjak montanus'') is a subspecies of Indian muntjac in the deer family which can be the size of a large dog. It was discovered in 1914, but had not been sighted since 1930 until one was snared and freed from a ...

(''M. montanum'') *** Pu Hoat muntjac (''M. puhoatensis'') *** Leaf muntjac (''M. putaoensis'') ***

Reeves's muntjac Reeves's muntjac (''Muntiacus reevesi''), also known as the Chinese muntjac, is a species of muntjac found widely in south-eastern China (from Gansu to Yunnan) and Taiwan. It has also been introduced in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherla ...

(''M. reevesi'') ***

Roosevelt's muntjac A single specimen of the Roosevelt's muntjac or Roosevelt's barking deer (''Muntiacus rooseveltorum'') was presented to the Field Museum in 1929 following the Kelley-Roosevelts expedition organized by Theodore (Jnr) and Kermit Roosevelt. The ...

(''M. rooseveltorum'') *** Truong Son muntjac or Annamite muntjac (''M. truongsonensis'') ***

Giant muntjac The giant muntjac (''Muntiacus vuquangensis''), sometimes referred to as the large-antlered muntjac, is a species of muntjac deer. It is the largest muntjac species and was discovered in 1994 in Vũ Quang, Hà Tĩnh Province of Vietnam and in c ...

(''M. vuquangensis'') * Tribe Cervini ("true" deer) ** Genus '' Dama'' *** Common fallow deer (''D. dama'') ***

Persian fallow deer The Persian fallow deer (''Dama mesopotamica'') is a deer species once native to all of the Middle East, but currently only living in Iran and Israel. It was reintroduced in Israel. It has been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2008 ...

(''D. mesopotamica'') ** Genus ''

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

'' ***

Chital The chital or cheetal (''Axis axis''; ), also called spotted deer, chital deer and axis deer, is a deer species native to the Indian subcontinent. It was first described by Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben in 1777. A moderate-sized deer, mal ...

(''A. axis'') ***

Calamian deer The Calamian deer (''Axis calamianensis''), also known as Calamian hog deer, is an endangered species of deer found only in the Calamian Islands of Palawan province in the Philippines. It is one of three species of deer native to the Philippines, ...

(''A. calamianensis'') ***

Bawean deer The Bawean deer (''Axis kuhlii''), also known as Kuhl's hog deer or Bawean hog deer, is a highly threatened species of deer endemic to the island of Bawean in Indonesia. Due to ongoing habitat loss, small population size and limited range, the B ...

(''A. kuhlii'') ***

Indian hog deer The Indian hog deer (''Axis porcinus''), or Indochinese hog deer, is a small cervid native to the region of the Indian subcontinent and Indo-Gangetic Plain. Introduced populations are established in Australia, as well as the United States and Sri ...

(''A. porcinus'') ** Genus ''

Rucervus ''Rucervus'' is a genus of deer from India, Nepal, Indochina, and the Chinese island of Hainan. The only extant representatives, the barasingha or swamp deer (''R. duvaucelii)'' and Eld's deer (''R. eldii''), are threatened by habitat loss and ...

'' ***

Barasingha The barasingha (''Rucervus duvaucelii''), sometimes barasinghe, also known as the swamp deer, is a deer species distributed in the Indian subcontinent. Populations in northern and central India are fragmented, and two isolated populations occu ...

(''R. duvaucelii'') ***

Eld's deer Eld's deer (''Rucervus eldii'' or ''Panolia eldii''Pitraa, Fickela, Meijaard, Groves (2004). ''Evolution and phylogeny of old world deer.'' Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 33: 880–895.), also known as the thamin or brow-antlered deer, i ...

(''R. eldii'') *** †

Schomburgk's deer The Schomburgk's deer (''Rucervus schomburgki'') is an extinct species of deer once endemic to central Thailand. It was described by Edward Blyth in 1863 and named after Sir Robert H. Schomburgk, who was the British consul in Bangkok from 1857 t ...

(''R. schomburgki'') ** Genus '' Elaphurus'' ***

Père David's deer The Père David's deer (''Elaphurus davidianus''), also known as the ''milu'' () or elaphure, is a species of deer native to the subtropical river valleys of China. It grazes mainly on grass and aquatic plants. It is the only extant member of t ...

(''E. davidianus'') ** Genus '' Rusa'' *** Visayan spotted deer or Prince Alfred's deer (''R. alfredi'') *** Philippine deer or Philippine sambar (''R. mariannus'') *** Javan rusa deer (''R. timorensis'') *** Sambar (''R. unicolor'') ** Genus ''

Cervus ''Cervus'' is a genus of deer that primarily are native to Eurasia, although one species occurs in northern Africa and another in North America. In addition to the species presently placed in this genus, it has included a whole range of other s ...

'' *** Thorold's deer (''C. albirostris'') ***

Elk The elk (: ''elk'' or ''elks''; ''Cervus canadensis'') or wapiti, is the second largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. ...

or American wapiti (''C. canadensis'') ***

Red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

(''C. elaphus'') *** Central Asian red deer (''C. hanglu'') ***

Sika deer The sika deer (''Cervus nippon''), also known as the northern spotted deer or the Japanese deer, is a species of deer native to much of East Asia and introduced to other parts of the world. Previously found from northern Vietnam in the south t ...

(''C. nippon'') The taxonomy of Cervini is poorly resolved due to conflict between

nuclear DNA Nuclear DNA (nDNA), or nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid, is the DNA contained within each cell nucleus of a eukaryotic organism. It encodes for the majority of the genome in eukaryotes, with mitochondrial DNA and plastid DNA coding for the rest. ...

and

mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondrion, mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the D ...

phylogenies: Mitchondrial DNA phylogeny after Heckeberg (2020) Nuclear DNA phylogeny after Heckeberg (2020)

Extinct genera

*†'' Amphiprox'' *†'' Cervavitus''? (Eurasia, Late Miocene-Early Pleistocene) *†'' Croizetoceros''? *†'' Dicrocerus'' *†'' Euprox'' *†'' Praesinomegaceros'' *†'' Heteroprox'' *†'' Metacervocerus'' *†'' Praeelaphus'' *†''

Megaloceros ''Megaloceros'' (from Greek: + , literally "Great Horn"; see also Lister (1987)) is an extinct genus of deer whose members lived throughout Eurasia from the Pleistocene to the early Holocene. The type and only undisputed member of the genus ...

'' (Eurasia, Early/Middle Pleistocene-Holocene, ~5700 BC) *†''

Praemegaceros ''Praemegaceros'' is an extinct genus of deer, known from the Pleistocene and Holocene of Western Eurasia. ''Praemegaceros'' is considered to be a genus of "giant deer", with many species having an estimated body mass of around , considerably lar ...

'' (Europe, Early Pleistocene-Holocene, ~5500 BC) *†'' Pseudodama'' (Eurasia, Early Pleistocene) *†''

Sinomegaceros ''Sinomegaceros'' is an extinct genus of deer known from the Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene of Central and East Asia. It is considered to be part of the group of "giant deer" (often referred to collectively as members of the ...

'' (Central and East Asia, Early-Late Pleistocene) *†''

Megaceroides ''Megaceroides algericus'' is an extinct species of deer known from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene of North Africa. It is one of only two species of deer known to have been native to the African continent, alongside the Barbary stag, a sub ...

'' (North Africa, Late Pleistocene-Holocene, ~ 4000 BC) *†''

Eucladoceros ''Eucladoceros'' (Greek language, Greek for "well-branched antler") is an extinct genus of large deer whose fossils have been discovered across Eurasia, from Europe to China, spanning from the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene. It is noted for i ...

'' (Eurasia, Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene) *†'' Candiacervus'' (Crete, Late Pleistocene) *†'' Haploidoceros'' (Europe, Middle-Late Pleistocene)

Evolution

Cervinae is suggested to have split from Capreolinae at least 13.8 million years ago based on the first appearance of ''Euprox,'' suggested to be a

stem-group In phylogenetics, the crown group or crown assemblage is a collection of species composed of the living representatives of the collection, the most recent common ancestor of the collection, and all descendants of the most recent common ancestor. ...

cervine in Europe at this time. Modern Cervinae first appeared during the Late Miocene in Eastern Asia, arriving in the Indian subcontinent and Europe during the Early Pilocene. The ancestor of Cervinae probably had a bifurcated antlers similar to muntjacs, with the complex antlers of Cervini evolving independently from those of Capreolinae. Cervinae radiated during the Early Pleistocene, becoming the dominant group of deer across Eurasia.

References

{{Authority control Deer Taxa named by Georg August Goldfuss Mammal subfamilies