Mule Deer

About the Mule Deer

The mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Mule deer are found in the western and central parts of North America. Various subspecies range from the western Great Plains to the Rocky Mountains, the southwest United States and northern Mexico, and the west coast of the continent. Their range is smaller than the related white-tailed deer, which are found throughout most of North America east of the Rocky Mountains and in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains from Idaho and Wyoming northward. Mule deer have also been introduced to Argentina and Kauai, Hawaii.

Mule deer can be divided into two main groups: the mule deer (sensu stricto) and the black-tailed deer. The first group includes all subspecies, except O. h. columbianus and O. h. sitkensis, which are in the black-tailed deer group. The two main groups have been treated as separate species, but they hybridize, and virtually all recent authorities treat the mule deer and black-tailed deer as conspecific. Mule deer apparently evolved from the black-tailed... Wikipedia →