Cervidae

A deer or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae. Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae and Capreolinae. Male deer of almost all species, as well as female reindeer, grow and shed new antlers each year. These antlers are bony extensions of the skull and are often used for combat between males.

Cervidae

This image is a derivative work of the following images: File:White-tailed deer.jpg (USDA photo by Scott Bauer) File:… · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
deerPBDB
Sits inside
CervoideaPBDB
Diet
grazer, browserPBDB
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Artiodactyla

Time the record covers

At least 33 million years on record.

The record covers at least 33.9 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 37.71 Mya to 0 Mya.

Eocene — about 1 of 2335 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 19 of 2335 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 233 of 2335 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 283 of 2335 occurrencesPleistocene — about 1626 of 2335 occurrences38–37 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences37–36 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences36–35 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences35–33 Mya — about 2 occurrences33–32 Mya — about 3 occurrences32–31 Mya — about 3 occurrences31–29 Mya — about 3 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 3 occurrences28–27 Mya — about 3 occurrences27–26 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences26–24 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 3 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 3 occurrences21–19 Mya — about 8 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 9 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 11 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 19 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 19 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 16 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 16 occurrences12–10 Mya — about 18 occurrences10–9.0 Mya — about 18 occurrences9.0–7.7 Mya — about 31 occurrences7.7–6.4 Mya — about 34 occurrences6.4–5.1 Mya — about 43 occurrences5.1–3.8 Mya — about 111 occurrences3.8–2.6 Mya — about 163 occurrences2.6–1.3 Mya — about 418 occurrences1.3–0 Mya — about 1376 occurrences33.9 Mya11.7 ka38.5 Mya0 Mya

2,335 occurrences of Cervidae on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

2,335 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

184 formations

Cromer Forest Bed — 52.46°N, 1.73°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.94°N, 1.25°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.88°N, 1.44°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.92°N, 1.34°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.42°N, 1.72°EPalm Spring — 32.90°N, 117.10°WHsanda Gol — 45.27°N, 101.77°EHsanda Gol — 45.26°N, 101.72°EHsanda Gol — 45.31°N, 101.63°EHsanda Gol — 45.30°N, 102.08°EHsanda Gol — 45.41°N, 101.26°EYuanmou — 24.87°N, 100.94°EUnterer Travertin — 50.95°N, 11.38°EUnterer Travertin — 50.98°N, 11.31°Efacies à Congeria — 45.05°N, 7.93°EGerakarou — 40.68°N, 23.15°EGerakarou — 40.52°N, 23.44°EKairubak suite — 38.35°N, 69.97°EKairubak suite — 38.60°N, 69.11°EKairubak suite — 37.33°N, 68.97°EPlatanochori — 40.57°N, 23.47°EPlatanochori — 40.53°N, 23.37°EPlatanochori — 40.62°N, 23.38°ESopas — 30.43°S, 56.45°WSopas — 31.25°S, 57.00°WSopas — 32.05°S, 56.12°WBalta sands — 48.13°N, 29.60°EBalta sands — 49.01°N, 27.58°EBalta sands — 47.95°N, 29.65°EBalta sands — 47.97°N, 29.30°EBalta sands — 48.69°N, 31.00°EBalta sands — 48.58°N, 28.98°E"unnamed sandstone" — 33.90°N, 117.00°WBermont — 28.80°N, 82.20°WBermont — 27.70°N, 82.50°WBermont — 26.90°N, 82.00°WBermont — 27.00°N, 82.20°WKhapry — 47.24°N, 39.71°ETouro Passo — 30.40°S, 56.49°WTouro Passo — 30.75°S, 53.75°WTouro Passo — 29.67°S, 56.87°WSan Timoteo — 33.90°N, 117.00°WCamp Rice — 32.00°N, 106.70°WCamp Rice — 31.50°N, 105.20°WKuruksai suite — 38.31°N, 69.67°ELantian — 34.20°N, 109.26°ELantian — 34.20°N, 109.50°EForest Bed — 52.49°N, 1.53°EForest Bed — 52.85°N, 1.47°ESalto Ander Egg — 32.12°S, 60.43°WSalto Ander Egg — 32.07°S, 60.55°WSalto Ander Egg — 31.03°S, 60.50°WRingold — 47.00°N, 118.50°WRingold — 46.30°N, 119.10°WFloral — 52.21°N, 106.58°WFloral — 50.80°N, 103.90°WFloral — 52.20°N, 106.70°WFloral — 52.10°N, 106.70°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.60°N, 117.80°WPalos Verdes Sand — 34.00°N, 118.20°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.76°N, 118.29°W

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The named rock units Cervidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 160 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 1,894 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Cervidae and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Cervidae and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

2,170 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records at least 1,242 sites for Cervidae, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

804 references

Each of the 2,335 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 792 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Cervidae

Credit
This image is a derivative work of the following images: File:White-tailed deer.jpg (USDA photo by Scott Bauer) File:…
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC0 Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itCervoidea through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Gray 1821