deer

Tragulidae

Tragulinae

Hyemoschus                  Tragulidae

Hyemoschus

water chevrotain

tropical Africa

Tragulus

Tragulus

mouse-deer or kancil

Southeast Asia

Tragulus meminna

2005

Moschiola

spotted chevrotain

India, Sri Lanka

Cervidae

Moschinae

Moschus                        Moschidae

2003

Moschus

musk deer

mountains of South Asia

Hydropotinae

Hydropotes                       Cervidae

Capreolinae

Hydropotes

water deer

Korea and China

Odocoilinae

Capreolus capreolus

Capreolus capreolus

European roe deer

Europe to Iran

Capreolus capreolus pygargus

2005

Capreolus pygargus

Siberian roe deer

Urals south to the Caucasus and east to Manchuria

Hippocamelus

Hippocamelus

huemul, taruca

Andes

Mazama

Mazama

brocket deer

Yucatán Peninsula, Central and South America, Trinidad

Mazama bororo

2011

Mazama jucunda

small red brocket

southeastern Brazil

Mazama americana temama

2005

Mazama temama

Mexican red brocket

Mexico to Honduras

Mazama americana temama

2025

Mazama reperticia

Central American red brocket

Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama

Mazama gouazoubira nemorivaga

2023

Passalites nemorivagus

Amazonian brown brocket

northern South America

Mazama gouazoubira cita

2024

Bisbalus citus

gray brocket

Venezuela

Mazama chunyi

2023

Subulo chunyi

dwarf brocket

Andean highlands in western Bolivia and southeastern Peru

Mazama gouazoubira

2023

Subulo gouazoubira

southern brown brocket

Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina

Odocoileus virgianus, hemionus

Odocoileus

mule deer, white-tailed deer

Americas

Mazama gouazoubira pandora

2025

Odocoileus pandora

yucatan brown brocket

Yucatán Peninsula

Mazama rufinus

2025

Andinocervus rufinus

little red brocket

Andes of Colombia, Ecuador and northern Peru

Odocoileus dichotomus

Blastocerus dichotomus

marsh deer

tropical and subtropical South America

subgenus Blastocerus bezoarticus

2002

Ozotoceros bezoarticus

pampas deer

grasslands of South America

Pudu puda

Pudu puda

southern pudu

southern Andes of Chile and Argentina

Pudu mephistophiles

2024

Pudella mephistophiles

northern pudu

Andes of Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador

2024

Pudella carlae

Peruvian Yungas pudu

Peru

Alcinae

Alces

Alces

elk (english) or moose

boreal and temperate forests across the northern hemisphere

Rangiferinae

Rangifer

Rangifer

reindeer or caribou

(sub)arctic/tundra/boreal forest regions of the northern hemisphere

Cervinae

Axis

Cervinae

Axis

chital

Indian subcontinent

subgenus Hyelaphus

subgenus Hyelaphus

calamian, bawean, hog deer

northern plains of Indian subcontinent to Myanmar, Southeast Asia

Cervus elaphus, hanglu

Cervus elaphus, hanglu

(Central Asian) red deer

Europe to western Asia, northern Africa

Cervus elaphus various spp.

2011

Cervus canadensis

elk (american) or wapiti

North America, Central, East Asia, introd. to South America, N Zealand

subgenus Przewalskium

2011

Cervus albirostris

Thorold's deer

western China

subgenus Sika

2011

Cervus nippon

sika

East Asia, introduced elsewhere

subgenus Rucervus

Rucervus

barasingha, swamp deer

India, Nepal, Indochina, and the Chinese island of Hainan

subgenus Rucervus eldi

2011

Panolia

Eld's deer or thamin

South and Southeast Asia

subgenus Rusa

Rusa

sambar

Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia

subgenus Rusa marianna alfredi

2011

Rusa alfredi

Visayan spotted deer

Philippines

Dama dama

Dama dama

fallow deer

Turkey, introduced elsewhere

Dama dama mesopotamica

2004

Dama mesopotamica

Pesrian fallow deer

Israel and Iran

Elaphurus

Elaphurus

Pčre David's deer

subtropical river valleys and wetlands of China

Muntiacinae

Elaphodus

Elaphodus

tufted deer

central China and northeastern Myanmar

Muntiacus muntjak

2011

Muntiacus (13 species)

muntjac

South Asia and Southeast Asia, introduced to the UK


'Elk': Americans call Cervus canadensis 'elk' (German: Elch, Swedish: Älg) due to a historical naming error by early European settlers. Seeing the large deer for the first time in the 16th century, settlers misapplied the European word 'elk' (which actually is an Alces alces, not extant in Britain).

Cervus canadensis is significantly larger and heavier than the Eurasian red deer Cervus elaphus, and has a paler rump patch, and features longer, more branched, tree-like antlers, compared to the smaller, darker Eurasian red deer which often has a more cup-shaped, 'crowned' antler structure. They split from each other roughly 7 million years ago.

Many taxonomists in the late 19th and early-to-mid 20th century viewed North American elk (wapiti) as a subspecies of the Eurasian red deer (Cervus elaphus canadensis), though Cervus canadensis continued to be used by some authors throughout the 20th century, particularly in North American contexts. Molecular studies, starting in 1998, began providing robust evidence that the North American elk is a distinct species from the European red deer.

'Wapiti' (Cervus canadensis): a Shawnee word meaning 'white rump'. While not used as commonly as 'elk' in American English, 'wapiti' is recognized, especially in scientific contexts, Canada, and in some Native American usage. It is used in the US from roughly the early 19th century to the present, although it has always been far less common than 'elk'. In Europe, 'elk' still refers to the Alces alces (American moose), making "wapiti" a clearer term to avoid confusion internationally.

'Moose' (Alces alces): an Algonquian word meaning 'he who strips off the bark' or 'eater of twigs', which aptly described the animal's feeding habits. This name was adopted when settlers encountered the (even larger) North American Alces alces species in the early 17th century.

Sources: 1975 Grzimeks Tierleben, Mammal Diversity Database, Google AI

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May, 2026