Hoofed Animals

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Hoofed Animals

• Follow along with your chart and make any
  additions or corrections that you may need. (If
  you need a replacement chart, tell the teacher
  now!)
• Remember that you will be allowed to utilize this
  resource during the exam.
• The deer family is cervidae. If the family is
  anything other than cervidae, it is not in the
  deer family.

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Black-tailed Deer

Young
Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class
Mammalia Order Artiodactyla Family Cervidae
Genus Odocoileus Species columbianus
Doe and fawn
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Found in the Pacific Northwest, especially in
Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Native
to North America
Sexual Dimorphism
Buck only males grow antlers
Preferred Habitat Forests and edge
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Feeding Blacktails are browsers in winter and
early spring and then mix in grasses and a wide
variety of herbs, as well as browse, in summer
and fall.
Breeding Blacktails are polygamous. They use
scent to locate each other during the breeding
period. Males tend to follow one female at a
time until breeding occurs or a larger male comes
along and displaces them.
Distinguishing Features -Smallest of the three
native deer species (mule, black- tailed,
white-tailed). - Antlers in forked pairs, like
mule deer. - Almost no rump patch with wide,
black-surfaced tail. - Light face and muzzle but
forehead not dark. - When startled will run with
high, stiff-legged bounce.
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Mule Deer
Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class
Mammalia Order Artiodactyla Family Cervidae
Genus Odocoileus Species hemionus
Found throughout the entire western United
States, including the four deserts of the
American Southwest .
Buck
Native to North America
Preferred Habitat Brushy vegetation
Doe
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Feeding Mule Deer are browsers and eat a great
variety of vegetable matter, including fresh
green leaves, twigs, lower branches of trees, and
various grasses.
Fawn
Breeding Mule deer are polygamous. They use
scent to determine when females are ready for
breeding. Males may gather groups of females
during peek breeding season and fight to defend
the group.

• Distinguishing Features
• Large ears that move constantly (like a mule)
• Peculiar and distinctive bounding leap
• Dark forehead marking
• Antlers in forked pairs on males only

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Sika Deer often called Asian Elk
Preferred Habitat Forests or Marshy terrains
Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class
Mammalia Order Artiodactyla Family Cervidae
Genus Cervus Species nippon
Cows or Hinds
Bull or Stag
They are inhabitants of Japan and live naturally
throughout eastern Asia, including parts of
Korea, Siberia, China, Vietnam, Taiwan.  They
have been introduced in New Zealand, Europe,
Australia, and several US states, including
Maryland, Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma and
Wisconsin.
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Feeding Some sika deer are considered grazers
while others are browsers. It depends on the
geographic location. Sika deer feed on plants,
grasses, marsh vegetation and agricultural crops.
Calves
Breeding Males are polygamous and gather harems
of females during the breeding season. They use
a bugling call and scent to attract females and
defend their territory/harem.

• Distinguishing Features
• - Antlers sweep backward (males only)
• Maintain spots into adulthood
• Flare a white rump patch when alarmed
• Males have a dark mane during the rut

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Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class
Mammalia Order Artiodactyla Family Cervidae
Genus Cervus Species elaphus
Rocky Mountain Elk also called Wapiti
Bull with 3 Cows
Today, about one million elk live in the western
United States, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota,
Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and
North Carolina, and from Ontario west in Canada
Elk are native to North America
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Preferred Habitat Woodlands with large open
areas
Feeding Elk are grazers. Elk prefer grass, but
regularly feed on shrub and browse species during
winter months.
Bulls in velvet
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Breeding Elk are polygamous. Males use
bugling vocalizations and scent to attract a
harem of females during the breeding season.
They will fight to defend their harem.
Bull bugling

• Distinguishing Features
• Much larger than deer or caribou.
• Second largest member of the
• deer family.
• Large, cream colored rump patch
• Both sexes have upper canine teeth called
  ivories.
• Males antlers sweep gracefully back over the
  shoulders

Calf
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In North America, the moose range includes almost
all of Canada (excluding the arctic), most
of Alaska, northern New England and upstate New
York, the Rocky Mountains, northeastern Minnesota,
 Michigans Upper Peninsula, and Isle Royale in
Lake Superior. 
Moose are native to North America
Moose
Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class
Mammalia Order Artiodactyla Family Cervidae
Genus Alces Species alces
Bull
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Preferred Habitat Boreal forests wetlands
Feeding Moose are browsers. During fall and
winter, moose consume large quantities of willow,
birch, and aspen twigs. During summer, moose
feed on vegetation in shallow ponds and the
leaves of birch, willow, and aspen.
Cow with calf
Breeding Moose are polygamous. The bull moose
will wallow in his own urine during the breeding
season. The scent attracts females. The bulls
and the cows both make vocalizations to attract
each other during breeding season.
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• Distinguishing Features
• Largest member of the deer family
• Long legs
• Hump at the front shoulder blades
• Flap of skin on the neck called a dewlap or
  bell (Both sexes)
• Large palmate antlers on the males only
• Long nose with a drooping lip

Bull moose
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Caribou also called Reindeer
Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class
Mammalia Order Artiodactyla Family Cervidae
Genus Rangifer Species tarandus
Bulls
Caribou are found in northern regions of North
America, Europe, Asia, and Greenland. They are
Native to North America.
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Preferred Habitat Old conifer forests tundra
Distinguishing Features - Caribou have large,
concave hoofs used as snowshoes, paddles, and
shovels. - Caribou are the only member of the
deer family in which both sexes grow antlers.
Antlers of adult bulls are large and massive
those of adult cows are much shorter and are
usually more slender and irregular.
Bulls grow palmate surfaces and a shovel between
the eyes. These features do not appear on the
females antlers.
Bull
Cow
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Feeding Caribou are grazing herbivores. In
summer, caribou eat the leaves of willows, sedges
(grasslike plants), flowering tundra plants, and
mushrooms. They switch to lichens, dried sedges
and small shrubs for winter.
Breeding Caribou are polygamous. Bull caribou
control a space around themselves, and prevent
other bulls from breeding with females within
their space. Caribou breeding season lasts for
only one week. Scent is important to the caribou
during their breeding season.
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Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class
Mammalia Order Artiodactyla Family
Antilocapridae Genus Antilocapra Species
americana
Pronghorn Antelope
Buck, doe, and fawns
Found from southern Alberta and Saskatchewan,
Canada, through the American plains states south
to Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and into Mexico.
Pronghorns are Native only to North America
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Preferred Habitat Open sagebrush grasslands
Feeding Grazing herbivores that generally feed
on grass, sagebrush, and other vegetation.
Fawn
Breeding Pronghorns are polygamous. Come
spring, bucks start defending a territory and
amassing a harem of 2-15 does. Scent is used to
do this.
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• Distinguishing Features
• - wide, white stripes on their throats.
• - white rump patch
• - have forked horns that shed each year!
• can sprint as fast as 60 mph and can sustain a
  speed of
• 30 mph for miles!
• Eyes are unusually large, about 2 inches in
  diameter
• Both genders have horns although the male's are
  much bigger than the female's. 

The male pronghorn's horns can grow to be 10
inches long with a forward-facing prong, or fork,
giving the animal its name pronghorn. Female
pronghorn also have horns, but they are much
smaller than the males', growing up to 6 inches
long.
Doe
Buck
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Bison
Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class
Mammalia Order Artiodactyla Family
Bovidae Genus Bison Species bison
Bison are native to North America
Prairies and woodlands in isolated pockets
through midwestern Canada and the United States.
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Preferred Habitat Open grasslands
Feeding Bison are year round grazers. They feed
primarly on grasses, but when food is scarce,
they will eat vegetation such as sagebrush.
Cow and calf
Breeding During the breeding seasons males will
bellow - a sound which may carry up to 3 miles.
They are polygamous and dominant bulls attempt to
keep a small group of females for mating. Scent
is also important for communicating during
breeding season.
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• Distinguishing Features 
• The shoulders are massive and humped
• Have a huge head with a woolly forehead giving
  the head a mop-like appearance between the
  horns.  
• There is a beard beneath the chin.  
•  The short horns are present in both sexes and
  arch backwards, outwards, and then upwards,
  curving slightly in at the blunt tips.
• The hair is longer in the front than in the
  rear. The distinction between hair length is
  most noticeable in males.

Bull
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Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class
Mammalia Order Artiodactyla Family
Bovidae Genus Ovis Species canadensis
Bighorn Sheep
Bighorn sheep are native to North America
Ranges from Nevada and California to west Texas
and south into Mexico.
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Preferred Habitat Grassy mountain slopes
Feeding Bighorn are primarily grazers,
consuming grasses, sedges, and forbs, but will
eat young twigs, leaves, and shoots when
preferred food is scarce.
Ram
Breeding Bighorn sheep are polygamous. Males
fight in head to head combat to establish
breeding rights. Scent is used to signal estrus.
Ewe with Lamb
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• Distinguishing Features
• Split hooves are sharp-edged with soft middles.
• Have white rumps and muzzles.
• Both sexes grow horns.

Lamb
A Rocky Mountain bighorn ram's horns can weigh 30
pounds (more than all the bones in his body
combined). Females also have horns, but they are
of smaller size.
Ewe
Ram
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Mountain Goat
Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class
Mammalia Order Artiodactyla Family
Bovidae Genus Oreamnos Species americanus
Native to North America
Mountainous regions in western Canada and the
northwestern United States.
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Preferred Habitat Steep, rocky cliffs
Nanny with kid - Winter coat
Feeding Mountain goats graze on grasses and
forbs in summer. They also browse on shrubs and
conifers. Their diet is variable in the winter
when they feed on mosses, lichens, grasses,
shrubs, and conifers.
Breeding Billies (male goats) may travel
considerable distances in search of receptive
females (nannies). Mountain goats have a
polygamous mating system. Both sexes have scent
glands that are active during breeding season.
Summer coat
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Distinguishing Features - A small ridge of long,
soft hair on the neck forms a hump.   - A beard
is present on the chin in both sexes.   - The
black eyes and nose contrast greatly with the
otherwise white head and body.   - Split hooves
have sharp edges but soft middles for
gripping. - Can jump nearly 12 feet in a single
bound. - The black, slightly curved horns are
found in both sexes
Billy in winter coat
Did You Know? From around the age of 22
months, it is possible to tell the age of a
mountain goat by counting the number of rings on
its horns!
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Nanny with kids (summer)
Kids
In females the horns reach 9 inches in males
about 12 inches. The horns of an adult female are
more slender and bend back more sharply towards
the tip. Sexes are extremely difficult to
differentiate in the field unless the female is
accompanied by a kid.
Billy (winter)
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Please keep your completed table in a safe
location until the test!