Rex Trulove
For a very large number of people, deer are creatures found mostly in North America, Europe, and possibly Asia. In North America, there are mule deer, white-tailed deer, black-tailed deer, several species of elk, caribou, and moose. These are all deer and counting the sub-species, there are around 10 species and sub-species of deer in North America. Would it surprise you to discover that there are many species and subspecies of deer in South America?
For many people, the honest answer would probably be yes, it is a surprise. And yet, not only are there deer in South America, there are a lot more species than in North America. In fact, there are nearly two or three times more species and sub-species of deer in South America than there are in North America. Indeed, there are more South American and Asian deer species than there are in the rest of the world, combined. (Asia also has a lot of different species of deer.)
None of the South American deer are nearly as large as the biggest species of deer in North America, namely moose, and elk. However, quite a few species are comparable in size to white-tailed and mule deer. That is, around four feet tall at the shoulder and up to 200 or more pounds.
The habits are generally similar between the deer of both continents, with some notable exceptions. For instance, most of the deer in North America breed in the fall and have young in the spring. Many of the South American deer might breed and have young any time of the year.
There can be quite a bit of variation in appearance, too. Some species of South American deer have pelts that are flecked with white and some have distinct dark markings on the face. They can even be brilliant red in color. In North America, most deer are reddish-brown or gray above and pale or white on the belly, normally without distinct marks on the face.
There are deer in South America that have elongated ‘fangs’, too. These are the guemals of the high Andes, at home at 10,000-15,000 feet elevation. The fangs normally can’t be seen, unlike Chinese water deer, which are long enough that they are noticeable even when the deer has its mouth closed. The opening picture is of a guemal.
The world’s smallest species of deer, shown above, lives in South America. It is called the Pudu and its average height at maturity is only slightly over one foot. The common weight for the Pudu is somewhat less than 30 pounds and the bucks are normally larger than the does.
South America is home to a large number of deer, both in regard to the number of species and also in the number of individuals. However, most people aren’t aware of this. Many haven’t been studied well and some live in difficult to reach areas, but the deer are there. For that matter, deer exist naturally on every continent except Australia and Antarctica.
I think so, too. I can’t help but imaging having one as a pet.
Again, I learned something new. I know you think you retired, but you are still teaching every day.
LOL…most people do, whether they realize it or not. Thank you for the compliment, though. I’ve always enjoyed teaching people new things, particularly since it means that I’m always learning new things, too.
I am learning something new here. Of course I knew about the antelopes (I am not sure if they are related to deers) in Africa and in Asia (if I remember well) but deer in South America I did not know that. The deer species you showed called Pudu is so cute though but probably very hard to study at the elevation where they reside. Gret post. Thank you for the education.
I’m glad it brings to light new facts. Yes, the pudu would be hard to study, but there are some in various zoos, so that simplifies things quite a bit. Pudus are even smaller than a new-born mule deer fawn.
As you surmised, deer and antelope aren’t closely related.