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DEER,
common name for hoofed, ARTIODACTYL mammals of the family
Cervidae, usually characterized by bony, often branching antlers
that are shed and regenerated annually. Members of the family, which
contains 17 genera and 38 species, range through the Americas, Europe,
Asia, and North Africa. The largest populations occur in mixed wooded
and open land, although deer also live in swamps, on mountains, and
on northern tundras. Deer species range in size from the European
elk, or moose, which may reach a shoulder height of 2.1 m (7 ft),
to the South American pudu, which is 33 cm (13 in) high at the shoulder.
The first true deer appeared in the lower Pliocene epoch, about
10 million years ago.
Deer commonly have lithe, compact bodies and long, powerful
legs suited for rugged woodland terrain. They are also excellent
swimmers. Their lower cheek teeth have crescent ridges of enamel,
which enable them to grind a wide variety of vegetation. The animals
are ruminants, or cud chewers, and have a four-chambered stomach.
Nearly all deer have a facial gland, in front of each eye, that contains
a strongly scented substance, or PHEROMONE, used to mark its home
range. The males of many species open these glands wide when angry
or excited. All deer except the MUSK DEER have a liver without a
gallbladder. The musk deer, along with the Chinese water deer, also
differs from other species in that it has no antlers and bears upper
canines that have developed into tusks.
Unlike the hollow, permanent horns of other ruminants, the
antlers of deer are solid and bony. Except in the CARIBOU, antlers
form only on males, and their growth is controlled by the male sex
hormone. Arising from the frontal bones and nourished by a highly
vascularized, fine-haired skin, called velvet, antlers complete
their growth, which requires great amounts of calcium, within a
few months. Circulation is then cut off, and the resulting dead
skin is sloughed off as the animal rubs its antlers against trees.
Antlers are used to slash territorial markings on trees or bushes,
to make threatening displays, and to combat other males. Usually
the fighting is stylized and harmless, but occasionally males of
large species lock antlers and die of exhaustion or starvation.
Moose antlers reach a width of 1.8 m (6 ft) and a weight of 20 kg
(44 lb); those of the extinct giant fallow deer Megaloceros spread
more than 3 m (more than 10 ft).
Many deer species group into families around the female, with
the male often becoming solitary; others, such as the musk deer
and Chinese water deer, live mainly in pairs. The RED DEER, which
are gregarious, associate in small to large herds, each led by a
mature female. Caribou migrate between the forest and the treeless
tundra in herds of a thousand or more.
Deer forage on twigs, leaves, bark, and buds of bushes and
saplings, and on grasses and other plants, feeding most actively
at twilight. The female gives birth once a year, usually to one
or two fawns. The gestation period lasts from 160 days in musk deer
to ten months in ROE DEER. Fawns are kept hidden in thickets, camouflaged
by their usually dappled markings. In the U.S., where deer now have
few natural predators, they often overbrowse their territory and
may die of starvation, especially during winters of deep snow. Hunting
seasons are adjusted accordingly.
In the U.S., the most common deer belong to the genus Odocoileus. The
white-tailed deer, or VIRGINIA DEER, O. virginianus, with
tined antlers and a tail with a prominent white underside, is found
in most parts of the U.S. as well as from Alaska to Bolivia. The
MULE DEER, O. hemionus, and the BLACK-TAILED DEER,
(qq.v.), formerly O. columbianus but now considered
of the same species as mule deer, are confined to the western U.S.
The American elk, or WAPITI, Cervus elaphus, of
southern Canada and the northern U.S. is called red deer in Europe
and Asia. The moose, Alces alces, ranges through
northern North America; in northern Europe it is known as elk.
Musk, which comes from a gland on the abdomen of the musk
deer, is used in medicine and perfumes. Deerskin is used for shoes,
boots, and gloves, and antlers are made into buttons and knife handles.
Deer are hunted for sport and for their meat, which is called venison.
The Lapps of Scandinavia and the Kola Peninsula of Russia
and other nomadic peoples of northern Asia use REINDEER for food,
clothing, and transport. The caribou, a reindeer variant, is equally
important to the Inuit of North America. Most commercial venison
in the U.S. is imported from New Zealand. Deer were originally brought
there by European settlers, and the deer population rose rapidly,
causing great environmental damage. They were controlled by hunting
and poisoning until the concept of deer farming arose in the 1960s.
Deer farms in New Zealand number more than 3500, with more than
400,000 deer.