The Capreolinae, Odocoileinae, or the New 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 Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classifica ...

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 ...

. Alternatively, they are known as the telemetacarpal deer, due to their bone structure being different from the plesiometacarpal deer subfamily Cervinae. The telemetacarpal deer maintain their distal lateral

metacarpals In human anatomy, the metacarpal bones or metacarpus form the intermediate part of the skeletal hand located between the phalanges of the fingers and the carpal bones of the wrist, which forms the connection to the forearm. The metacarpal bones ar ...

, while the plesiometacarpal deer maintain only their proximal lateral metacarpals. The Capreolinae are believed to have originated in the Middle

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

, between 7.7 and 11.5 million years ago, in

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...

. Although this subfamily is called New World deer in English, it includes

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subs ...

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...

, and

roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

, all of which live in Eurasia in the Old World.

Classification

The following extant genera and species are recognized:Alvarez D. (2007) * Tribe

Capreolini Capreolini is a tribe of deer, containing two extant genera and one extinct genus. Genera *Extant genera **''Capreolus'' **''Hydropotes'' *Extinct genera **†'' Procapreolus''- Found during the Miocene/Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Ple ...

** Genus †'' Procapreolus'' ** Genus ''

Capreolus ''Capreolus'' is a genus of deer, the roe deer. Etymology English ''roe'' is from Old English ''ra'' or ''rá'', from ''raha'', from Proto-Germanic ''*raikhaz'', cognate to Old Norse ''ra'', Old Saxon ''reho'', Middle Dutch and Dutch '' ...

'' *** Western roe deer (''C. capreolus'') *** Eastern roe deer (''C. pygargus'') **Genus '' Hydropotes'' ***

Water deer The water deer (''Hydropotes inermis'') is a small deer superficially more similar to a musk deer than a true deer. Native to China and Korea, there are two subspecies: the Chinese water deer (''Hydropotes inermis inermis'') and the Korean water ...

(''H. inermis'') * Tribe Alceini **Genus †'' Cervalces'' *** †''C. gallicus?'' *** †'' C. carnutorum'' *** †'' C. scotti'' *** †'' C. latifrons'' **Genus ''

Alces The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...

'' *** Moose or Eurasian elk (''A. alces'') * Tribe

Odocoileini Odocoileini is a tribe of deer, containing seven extant genera and several extinct ones. The common character of this tribe is vomerine septum that completely separates the choana. Phylogeny Phylogeny by Gilbert et al. 2006 and Duarte et al. 20 ...

**Genus †'' Pavlodaria'' ** Genus '' Rangifer'' *** Caribou/reindeer (''R. tarandus'') ** Genus '' Odocoileus'' ***

Mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whi ...

(''O. hemionus'') ***

White-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

(''O. virginianus'') ***

Yucatan brown brocket The Yucatan brown brocket (''Odocoileus pandora'') is a small species of deer native to Central America. Taxonomy It has been previously treated as a disjunct subspecies of the gray brocket (''Mazama gouazoubira)'' or a subspecies of the re ...

(''O. pandora'') *** † American mountain deer (''O. lucasi'') ** Genus ''

Blastocerus The marsh deer (''Blastocerus dichotomus'') is the largest deer species from South America reaching a length of and a shoulder height of . It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. Formerly found in much of tropica ...

'' ***

Marsh deer The marsh deer (''Blastocerus dichotomus'') is the largest deer species from South America reaching a length of and a shoulder height of . It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. Formerly found in much of tropical ...

(''B. dichotomus'') ** Genus '' Hippocamelus'' ***

Taruca The taruca (''Hippocamelus antisensis''), also known as the Peruvian guemal, north Andean deer, north Andean huemul, northern huemul or northern guemal, is a mid sized deer species that inhabits the high regions of the Andes mountains in South Am ...

(''H. antisensis'') ***

South Andean deer The south Andean deer (''Hippocamelus bisulcus''), also known as the southern guemal, south Andean huemul, southern huemul, or Chilean ''huemul'' or '' güemul'' ( , ), is an endangered species of deer native to the mountains of Argentina and Chi ...

or huemul (''H. bisulcus'') ** Genus '' Mazama'' *** Gray brocket (''M. gouazoubira'') *** Northern Venezuelan brocket (''M. cita'', considered by some authorities to be a subspecies of ''M. gouazoubira'') *** Ecuador brocket (''M. murelia'', considered by some authorities to be a subspecies of ''M. gouazoubira'') *** Isla San Jose brocket (''M. permira'', considered by some authorities to be a subspecies of ''M. gouazoubira'') *** Colombian brocket (''M. sanctaemartae'', considered by some authorities to be a subspecies of ''M. gouazoubira'') *** Brazilian brocket (''M. superciliaris'', considered by some authorities to be a subspecies of ''M. gouazoubira'') *** Peruvian brocket (''M. tschudii'', considered by some authorities to be a subspecies of ''M. gouazoubira'') *** Rodon (''M. rondoni'', considered by some authorities to be a subspecies of ''M. gouazoubira'') *** Amazonian brown brocket (''M. nemorivaga'') ***

Central American red brocket The Central American red brocket (''Mazama temama'') is a species of brocket deer ranging from southern Mexico, through Central America, to northwestern Colombia. Taxonomy In 1792 Robert Kerr originally described it as a unique separate spe ...

(''M. temama'') *** Small red brocket or bororo (''M. bororo'') *** Dwarf brocket (''M. chunyi'') ***

Pygmy brocket The pygmy brocket (''Mazama nana'') is a brocket deer species from South America. It is found in southern Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavaku ...

(''M. nana'') *** Merida brocket (''M. bricenii'') ***

Little red brocket The little red brocket or swamp brocket (''Mazama rufina''), also known as the Ecuador red brocket, is a small, little-studied deer native to the Andes of Colombia, Ecuador and northern Peru, where found in forest and páramo at altitudes betwe ...

(''M. rufina'') *** American red brocket (''M. americana'') (This species has found to be closer to '' Odocoileus'' than other brockets.) *** Ecuador red brocket (''Mazama gualea'', considered by some authorities to be a subspecies of ''M. americana'') *** Brazilian red brocket (''M. jucunda'', considered by some authorities to be a subspecies of ''M. americana'') ***

(''M. pandora'') *** Trinidad red brocket (''M. trinitatis'', considered by some authorities to be a subspecies of ''M. americana'') *** Southern red brocket (''Mazama whitelyi'', considered by some authorities to be a subspecies of ''M. americana'') *** Peruvian red brocket (''Mazama zamora'', considered by some authorities to be a subspecies of ''M. americana'') *** Colombian red brocket (''Mazama zetta'', considered by some authorities to be a subspecies of ''M. americana'') ** Genus '' Ozotoceros'' *** Pampas deer (''O. bezoarticus'') ** Genus ''

Pudu The pudus (Mapudungun ''püdü'' or ''püdu'', es, pudú, ) are two species of South American deer from the genus ''Pudu'', and are the world's smallest deer. The chevrotains (mouse-deer; Tragulidae) are smaller, but they are not true deer. Th ...

'' *** Northern pudu (''P. mephistophiles'') ***

Southern pudu The southern pudu (''Pudu puda'', Mapudungun ''püdü'' or ''püdu'', es, pudú, ) is a species of South American deer native to the Andes of Chile and Argentina. It is found in high-altitude forests and is classified as Near Threatened in the ...

(''P. pudu'')

Extinct genera

*†''

Agalmaceros ''Agalmaceros'' is an extinct genus of deer of the Cervidae family, that lived in South America during the Pleistocene. The only species currently known is ''A. blicki''. Remains have only been found in Ecuador. It showed a clear affinity to Ande ...

'' *†''

Antifer ''Antifer'' is an extinct genus of large herbivorous deer of the family (biology), family Cervidae, endemic to South America during the Pleistocene, living from 2.6 Annum, Ma to 13,000 years ago and existing for approximately .

'' *†''

Bretzia ''Bretzia'' is an extinct genus of deer that was endemic to North America. Two species have been described. Taxonomy and evolution The genus ''Bretzia'' was named in 1974 by paleontologist Eric Paul Gustafson and his colleague Willis Fry. It wa ...

'' *†'' Libralces'' (Considered to be a synonym of '' Cervalces latifrons'') *†''

Morenelaphus ''Morenelaphus'' is an extinct genus of deer that lived in South America during the Late Pleistocene. Fossils of the genus have been recovered from the Agua Blanca, Fortín Tres Pozos and Luján Formations of Argentina, the Ñuapua Formation ...

'' *†'' Torontoceros'' *†'' Eocoileus''

References

Deer Taxa named by Joshua Brookes Mammal subfamilies {{eventoedungulate-stub