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.
| Mule deer | |
|---|---|
| Male (buck) near Elk Creek, Oregon | |
| Female (doe) near Swall Meadows, California | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Cervidae |
| Subfamily: | Capreolinae |
| Genus: | Odocoileus |
| Species: | O. hemionus |
| Binomial name | |
| Odocoileus hemionus Rafinesque, 1817 | |
| Subspecies | |
|
10, but some disputed (see text) | |
| Distribution map of subspecies:
Sitka black-tailed deer (O. h. sitkensis)
Columbian black-tailed deer (O. h. columbianus)
California mule deer (O. h. californicus)
southern mule deer (O. h. fuliginatus)
peninsular mule deer (O. h. peninsulae)
desert mule deer (O. h. eremicus)
Rocky Mountain mule deer (O. h. hemionus) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Unlike the related white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), which is found throughout most of North America east of the Rocky Mountains and in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains from Idaho and Wyoming northward, mule deer are only found on the western Great Plains, in the Rocky Mountains, in the southwest United States, and on the west coast of North America. Mule deer have also been introduced to Argentina and Kauai, Hawaii.
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