''Cervus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of deer that primarily are native to

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

, although one species occurs in northern Africa and another in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. In addition to the species presently placed in this genus, it has included a whole range of other species now commonly placed in other genera. Additionally, the species-level

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

is in a state of flux.

Taxonomy

Genus

Until the 1970s, ''Cervus'' also included the members of the genera '' Axis'', '' Dama'', and '' Elaphurus'', and until the late 1980s, it included members of '' Rucervus'' and '' Rusa''.

Species

In the third edition of ''

Mammal Species of the World ''Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference'' is a standard reference work in mammalogy giving descriptions and Bibliographic database, bibliographic data for the known species of mammals. It is now in its third edition, ...

'' from 2005, only the

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'') and sika deer (''C. nippon'') were recognized as species in the genus ''Cervus''. Genetic and morphological evidence suggest more species should be recognized. For example, the species '' Cervus canadensis'' (elk/wapiti) is considered a separate species.

Red deer species group

Within the red deer

species group In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

, some sources have recommended the Central Asian red deer (''Cervus hanglu'') should be treated as a species. If the Central Asian red deer (from the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

to western

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

) is recognized as a species, it includes the Yarkand deer and Bactrian deer (the two may be synonymous), but it could possibly also include the Kashmir stag, which has not been sampled in recent studies. If it is included in the Central Asian red deer, the scientific name of that species is ''C. hanglu''. If it is not included, the scientific name of that species is ''C. yarkandensis'', and the Kashmir stag (''C. hanglu'') may represent a separate

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

species. The Central Asian red deer was considered its own species (including the Yarkand deer, Kashmir stag and Bactrian deer as subspecies) by the IUCN in 2017, and by the American Society of Mammalogists in 2021. Others members of the red deer group, which may represent separate species, are '' C. corsicanus'', '' C. wallichi'' and '' C. xanthopygus''. If so, ''C. corsicanus'' includes the

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

'' C. c. barbarus'' (perhaps a synonym of ''corsicanus''), and is restricted to

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

in North Africa,

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

and

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

. ''C. wallichi'' would probably include the subspecies '' C. w. kansuensis'' and '' C. w. macneilli'' (both are perhaps synonyms of ''C. w. wallichi''), and would be found from

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

to central China.Smith and Xie, editors (2008). ''Mammals of China''. ''C. xanthopygus'' would probably include the subspecies '' C. x. alashanicus'' (perhaps a synonym of ''C. x. xanthopygus''), and would be found from the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...

to northeastern China. This would restrict the "true" red deer (''C. elaphus'') to Europe,

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

and northwestern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, and the elk/wapiti (''C. canadensis'') to North America and the Asian regions of the

Tian Shan The Tian Shan, also known as the Tengri Tagh or Tengir-Too, meaning the "Mountains of God/Heaven", is a large system of mountain ranges in Central Asia. The highest peak is Jengish Chokusu at high and located in Kyrgyzstan. Its lowest point is ...

, Altai, and Great Khingan. Alternatively, the ''barbarus'' group species are subspecies of the "true" red deer, while the ''C. wallichii'' and ''C. xanthopygus'' groups are subspecies of the elk/wapiti.

Sika deer species group

It has been proposed that the sika deer should be split into four species based on genetics, morphology and voice, although this may be premature based on the presently available evidence. If split, the potential species are ''C. yesoensis'' from northern and central Japan (

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

and northern and central

Honshu , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...

), ''C. nippon'' of southern Japan (southern Honshu,

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

, Okinawa, Tsushima and other small islands), ''C. hortulorum'' of mainland Asia (the

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, central and eastern

and northern

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

), and '' C. taiouanus'' of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Phylogeny

A 2014

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 ...

study showed the internal phylogeny of ''Cervus'' to be as follows:

Fossil species

The oldest member of the genus ''Cervus'' is ''Cervus magnus'''','' known from the early-mid

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Cervus astylodon'' – Ryukyu dwarf deer *†'' Cervus grayi'' *†'' Cervus sivalensis''

Mating system

Members of the genus ''Cervus'' have polygynous mating systems within harems. These harems consist of several males, numerous females and their young offspring 1–3 years in age Members of this genus have a yearly breeding season where they display sensory exploitation, intrasexual competition, and weaponry. Females will fight for optimal mating opportunities and sexually selection for males with larger antler size and/or greater roar quality. The degree of polygyny and female aggregation is dependent on the level of food distribution. Females aggregating in areas with more food leading to larger harems Female distribution influences the level of polygyny. Red deer portrait

Female-female competition

Female-female competition has been observed within harems in the red deer species (''Cervus elaphus'') prior to and during the mating season. Aggression is displayed through nose threats, kicking, and displacements. Elevated aggression has only been observed during the breeding season. Competition can be for access to mates or reproductive resources such as food, or nesting areas. Female-female aggression in ungulates is often overlooked because it is not as extravagant as male antler combat. Female conflicts occur so the winner has first access to the harem male at the start of the mating season before he is exhausted or low on sperm storage.

Secondary sexual traits

While an emphasis in observations of

sexual selection Sexual selection is a mechanism of evolution in which members of one sex mate choice, choose mates of the other sex to mating, mate with (intersexual selection), and compete with members of the same sex for access to members of the opposite sex ...

is placed on combat using antlers, males with higher roaring rates are also being selected for. During the breeding season males will make calls to attract mates and compete with other males. Like antler size, mating call quality is an indicator of mate potential. Red deer can distinguish the calls of the males in their harem, others and their offspring.

Indirect benefits

Females select for males with larger antlers which indirectly benefits them. Large antler size in males is a sign of health and strength. The visual display is a reliable indicator of mate quality, providing indirect benefits. The females are not directly affected by these characteristics, but they will produce more viable and fit offspring. Males with large antlers mate and sire more offspring than smaller, younger males. Large antler size is correlated with overall health, fitness and an increase in sperm production and quality.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Mammal genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus