deer

Deer comprise a family of browsing and grazing mammals in which the males bear simple or complex antlers that are shed each year. Deer have four-toed feet. The Chinese water deer is the only true deer that does not have antlers but the male has enlarged upper canine teeth that grow as tusks.

Any of various ruminant, even-toed, hoofed mammals belonging to the family Cervidae. The male typically has a pair of antlers, shed and regrown each year. Most species of deer are forest-dwellers and are distributed throughout Eurasia and North America, but are absent from Australia and Africa south of the Sahara.

Native to North America are white-tailed deer Odocoileus viginianus, mule deer O. hemionus, wapiti or elk Cervus canadensis, moose Alces alces, and caribou or reindeer Rangifer tarandus. The last two also occur in Eurasia. Red deer Cervus elaphus, roe deer Capreolus capreolus, and fallow deer Dama dama are typical Eurasian species.

Other species in the deer family include the elk, wapiti, reindeer, and the musk deer of central and northeastern Asia, the males of which yield musk and have no antlers.