Odocoileus hemionus (Rafinesque 1817)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Artiodactyla, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 637-722 : 657

Odocoileus hemionus (Rafinesque 1817)

[Cervus] hemionus Rafinesque 1817 , Am. Mon. Mag., 1: 436.

Type Locality: USA, South Dakota, mouth of Big Sioux River ( Bailey, 1926:41).

Vernacular Names: Mule Deer.

Subspecies: :

Subspecies Odocoileus hemionus subsp. hemionus Rafinesque 1817

Subspecies Odocoileus hemionus subsp. californicus Caton 1876

Subspecies Odocoileus hemionus subsp. cerrosensis Merriam 1898

Subspecies Odocoileus hemionus subsp. columbianus Richardson 1829

Subspecies Odocoileus hemionus subsp. eremicus Mearns 1897

Subspecies Odocoileus hemionus subsp. fuliginatus Cowan 1933

Subspecies Odocoileus hemionus subsp. inyoensis Cowan 1933

Subspecies Odocoileus hemionus subsp. peninsulae Lydekker 1898

Subspecies Odocoileus hemionus subsp. sheldoni Goldman 1939

Subspecies Odocoileus hemionus subsp. sitkensis Merriam 1898

Distribution: W Canada, Mexico (Baja California and Sonora to N Tamaulipas), W USA east to Minnesota, and Alaskan Panhandle. Introduced to Kauai (Hawaiian Isls) and Argentina.

Conservation: U.S. ESA – Endangered as O. h. cedrocensis [sic; = cerrosensis]; IUCN – Endangered as O. h. cerrosensis, otherwise Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Revised by Cowan (1936); reviewed by Anderson and Wallmo (1984, Mammalian Species, 219) and Geist (1998). The species can be partitioned into the columbianus division or Black-tailed Deer (including also sitkensis) and the nominate hemionus division or Mule Deer sensu stricto (including also californicus, cerrosensis, eremicus, fuliginatus, inyoensis, peninsulae, and sheldoni). Dorcelaphus crooki Mearns, 1897 is based on a hybrid between O. virginianus and O. hemionus ( Heffelfinger, 2000) .