Deer
Graceful hoofed ruminants of the family Cervidae, found across most continents.
Deer are hoofed ruminant ungulates of the family Cervidae. Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (including muntjac, elk, red deer, and fallow deer) and Capreolinae (including reindeer, white-tailed deer, roe deer, and moose). Male deer of almost all species (except the water deer), as well as female reindeer, grow and shed new antlers each year. These antlers are bony extensions of the skull and are often used for combat between males. The musk deer (Moschidae) and chevrotains (Tragulidae) are separate families in the ruminant clade Ruminantia, not closely related to Cervidae.
- Family
- Cervidae
- Diet
- Herbivore (Browsers/Grazers)
- Distinctive Feature
- Antlers (in most males)
- Global Distribution
- Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa
Lore & Background
Deer appear in art from Paleolithic cave paintings onwards and have played a role in mythology, religion, and literature throughout history, as well as in heraldry, such as red deer that appear in the coat of arms of Åland. Their economic importance includes the use of their meat as venison, their skins as buckskin, and their antlers as handles for knives. Deer hunting has been a popular activity since the Middle Ages.
In Their Own Story
The mist clung low to the ferns as dawn broke over the hardwood canopy. A mule deer stepped softly onto the mossy path, her ears swiveling like radar dishes catching the faintest rustle of a predator or the whisper of wind. She paused, nostrils flaring to taste the cool air, before lowering her head to nibble on fresh clover. In that suspended moment, the forest held its breath; the only sound was the soft crunch of vegetation and the distant call of a raven, marking the deer as both survivor and sustainer in this ancient, breathing world.
Reader's Guide
Deer live in a variety of biomes, from tundra to tropical rainforest. They are widely distributed, with indigenous representatives on all continents except Antarctica and Australia. Africa has only one native deer, the Barbary stag, a subspecies of red deer confined to the Atlas Mountains. Fallow deer have been introduced to South Africa. The highest concentration of large deer species in temperate North America lies in the Canadian Rocky Mountain and Columbia Mountain regions. The Eurasian Continent boasts the most species of deer, with most found in Asia.
Did You Know?
- The word 'deer' originally meant any wild animal in Old English and Middle English.
- Male red deer are called stags; for other large species, the male is a bull and the female a cow.
- A group of any deer species is called a herd.
- The adjective of relation is 'cervine', from Latin 'cervus' meaning deer.
Elsewhere in the Living Planet universe
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record