Red Deer - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

Until recently, biologists considered the red deer and wapiti (C. canadensis) the same species, forming a continuous distribution throughout temperate Eurasia and North America. This belief was based largely on the fully fertile hybrids that can be produced under captive conditions.

Genetic evidence clearly shows the wapiti and western red deer form two separate species. Among western red deer, the easternmost forms (from the Caspian Sea to western China) form a primordial subgroup, which includes the Yarkand deer and Bactrian deer (the two may be synonymous)

Another member of the red deer group which may represent separate species is the C. corsicanus. If so, C. corsicanus includes the subspecies C. c. barbarus (perhaps a synonym of C. c. corsicanus), and is restricted to Maghreb in north Africa, Corsica and Sardinia.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature originally listed nine subspecies of red deer (Cervus elaphus): three as endangered, one as vulnerable, one as near threatened, and four without enough data to give a category (Data Deficient). The species as a whole, however, is listed as least concern. However, this was based on the traditional classification of red deer as one species (Cervus elaphus), including the wapiti. The western European red deer is also known as simply red deer.

Selected members of the red deer species group are listed in the below table. Of the ones listed, C. hippelaphys, scoticus and bactrianus may all be junior synonyms.