Black-tailed Deer - Definition and Overview

Black-tailed deer
Black-tailed deer at Alum Rock Park
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Artiodactyla Suborder: Ruminantia Family: Cervidae Subfamily: Capreolinae Genus: Odocoileus Species: hemionus
Trinomial name
Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

Like all deer, black-tailed deer are herbivores.

Male black-tailed deer, like this one from Olympic National Park, develop antlers in the summer.

The Black-tailed deer is a species of deer found in western North America.

It is sometimes classified as a subspecifes of the mule deer, as reflected in its scientific name O. hemoinus columbianus as compared to the Rocky Mountain mule deer's O. hemoinus hemoinus. However this classification is not widely followed.

External links

• Description (http://www.naturepark.com/btdeer.htm)
• Excerpts from the book Black-tailed Deer of California (http://www.westernhunter.com/Pages/Vol02Issue24/blacktail.html)
• Mule deer, of which some believe black-tailed deer are a subspecies (http://www.desertusa.com/feb97/du_muledeer.html)