Some of the most successful herbivores on the planet now have hooves. The Order Artiodactyla is made up of animals with four toes on each foot, like deer (Cervidae). All of these interesting animals are related to deer in some way. Deer and other cervids, like moose, elk, reindeer, muntjac, brockets, and pudus, are most closely related to each other. Cervids are a large family of animals with even hooves.
Cervids are in the suborder Ruminantia, which also includes cattle (cows, pigs, goats, and sheep), pronghorns, giraffes, antelopes, gazelles, chevrotains, and okapis. Some animals that are closely related to deer may surprise you. Let’s take a look at these “even-toed ungulates” (animals with four toes on each foot) in the next section. You are welcome to look into this list on your own and make sure it is correct.
Some of the world’s most successful herbivores have hooves. Artiodactyla is a group of hoofed animals with the same number of toes on each foot, like deer (Cervidae). All of these interesting animals are related to deer species.
Cervids, a large family of animals with even hooves that includes moose, elk, reindeer, muntjac, brockets, and pudus, are most closely related to each other. Cervids are part of the suborder Ruminantia, which also includes a lot of other animals that are related to deer, such as pronghorns, giraffes, antelopes, gazelles, chevrotains, and okapis.
Some animals that are related to deer may surprise you. Let’s take a look at these “even-toed ungulates” in the overview below. You can do your own research to make sure this list is correct.
Which animals are related to deer?
Deer are related to different animals. They have relationships in some way with deer, lets’s read this article for the info about the relations of deer with other animals.
1.Blue whales
The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), which is the largest living aquatic mammal, is related to land animals with hooves. This is because deer and whales share a common ancestor. About 50 million years ago, the ancestor of whales, Pakicetus, went on land trips.
Even though they don’t have hooves, orcas, dolphins, porpoises, and other Cetaceans all belong to the same branch of even-toed ungulates as deer. Since all of these animals came from the same ancestor, they are all in the same biological order.
2. Giraffe
The giraffe is a well-known animal that is strangely related to a large group of deer species (Giraffa camelopardalis). The giraffe is thought to be the biggest ruminant animal in the world.
Giraffes and deer come from the same ancestor and are in the same order and suborder (Ruminantia). Even though both species have two toes, the link between them is not very strong. The Okapi, which is distantly related to both the giraffe and the deer, is the animal that the giraffe is most like. Study the species for a while.
3. Okapi
The okapi is a smaller animal in the same family as the giraffe, which we just talked about (Okapia johnstoni). The animal looks less like a horse and more like a cross between a zebra and a deer. When you think about it, it makes sense because the zebra and the deer come from the same ancestor.
Okapis are in the same Order (Artiodactyla) and Suborder (Ruminantia) as deer, just like giraffes. The okapi is part of the Ungulates clade, which also includes deer and a wide range of other big-hoofed mammals like them. But okapis are more like giraffes than they are like deer.
4. Zebra
The zebra is a well-known animal with hooves like the ox (Equus quagga). On the plains of Africa, you can see these animals in big groups. Their striped coats help them “blend in with the crowd.”
Even more amazing is the bond between zebras and deer. Deer and zebras are in the same Clan (Ungulates), Suborder (Ruminantia), and Order (Artiodactyla). Zebras, on the other hand, are in no way related to deer. The zebra is in the same family as horses and donkeys, called Equidae.
5. Antelope
The antelope is related to deer, but it is in a different family of hoofed animals from the African savannah (Bovidae). Antelope and deer are both even-toed hoofed mammals in the Pecora suborder. They are not related to each other, though.
In their own subfamilies, which also include gazelles, impalas, and wildebeest, there are a lot of different kinds of antelope. The family Bovidae also includes cattle and sheep. The Cervidae family, which is made up of all deer species, is the “neighbor” of all of these other families.
6. Chevrotain (Mouse Deer)
Chevrotain (Tragulidae), also known as Mouse Deer, is an order of mammals that has a strange quality to it. These strange creatures look like a deer and a mouse had a baby. Even though their name makes it sound like they are related to deer in the Cervidae family, they are neither rodents nor deer. Tragulidae is the name of the only suborder that has mouse deer in it. Both species are Ungulates, which means they are related to deer (even-toed hoofed herbivores).
7. Bison
The American Bison (bison), which is a hoofed animal, is a member of the Bovidae family, which also includes antelope. So, they are related to the animals that live on the steppes, such as deer. The American bison is related to deer in its Order (Artiodactyla), Suborder (Ruminantia), and Infraorder (Ruminantia) (Pecora). Bison are part of the Bovidae family, which is closely related to the Cervidae family, which is where deer live.
8. Pig
Both deer and the wild pig (Sus scrofa) live in forests, and their homes are very similar. Along with deer, they are one of the most common Ungulates, which are herbivores with two toes on each foot. Wild boars are in a different family than deer, but they are in the same order and suborder as deer (Suidae). Since boars and domestic pigs are in the same genus, they will get along better. But wild boars and deer are still not very closely related.