White-tailed deer

White-tailed deer
Male (buck or stag)
Female (doe) O. v. nelsoni with juveniles (fawns)

Secure  (NatureServe)[2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Cervidae
Subfamily: Capreolinae
Genus: Odocoileus
Species:
O. virginianus
Binomial name
Odocoileus virginianus
(Zimmermann, 1780)
Subspecies

38, see text

White-tailed deer range map
Synonyms
  • Dama virginiana Zimmermann, 1780
  • Dama virginianus Zimmermann, 1780

The white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), also known commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North, Central and South America. It is the most widely-distributed mainland ungulate herbivore in the Americas; coupled with its natural predator, the mountain lion (Puma concolor), it is one of the most widely-distributed terrestrial mammal species in the Americas and the world. Highly adaptable, the various subspecies of white-tailed deer inhabit many different ecosystems, from arid grasslands to the Amazon and Orinoco basins; from the Pantanal and the Llanos to the high-elevation terrain of the Andes.[3]

  1. ^ Gallina, S. and Lopez Arevalo, H. (2016). "Odocoileus virginianus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T42394A22162580. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T42394A22162580.en. Retrieved November 19, 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "Odocoileus virginianus". NatureServe Explorer. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  3. ^ "IUCN Red List maps". Explore and discover Red List species ranges and observations.