Subfamily
Hydropotinae
Chinese water
deer |
 |
The subfamily Hydropotinae contains a single modern species, the Chinese
water deer (Hydropotes inermis), which is native to Korea and eastern
China. Traditionally, this species has been thought of as the most
primitive of the Cervidae due to the presence of enlarged upper canines and
a lack of antlers (the same pattern as in the
Tragulidae and
Moschidae). The general body plan is similar
to that of the musk deer, but skull characters firmly plant the water deer
in the family Cervidae. This species has a unique pair of inguinal
glands, in addition to small preorbital glands and interdigital glands on
the hind legs.
Recent studies have been collecting an increasing amount of evidence that
the Hydropotinae is actually invalid. In several molecular studies,
Hydropotes has allied closely with the roe deer (Capreolus:
Capreolinae). Several morphological
studies have also suggested that the water deer may in fact be an advanced
deer that has secondarily evolved primitive characters.
Several features shared by roe deer and the water deer could be explained
by a common evolutionary past. Both genera have a telemetacarpal
foot structure (as do all members of the Capreolinae), are cold
tolerant, and inhabit temperate regions rather than tropical ones (as one
would expect from primitive cervids). While the ancestors of roe deer
migrated into Asia from North America, the water deer has typically been
seen as a historically Asian species. However, the distribution of
Hydropotes in eastern Asia might be explained by a similar migration
from the New World, the center of Capreolinae evolution. |
The Hydropotinae Family
Tree
Click on the species above to learn
more,
or jump to the Hydropotinae Species
List
|
Literature Cited
Geist, V. 1998. Deer of the World: Their Evolution, Behaviour,
and Ecology. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books.
Kuznetsova, M. V., M. V. Kholodova, and A. A. Danilkin. 2005.
Molecular Phylogeny of Deer (Cervidae: Artiodactyla). Russian
Journal of Genetics; 41(7): 742-749.
Pitra, C., J. Fickel, E. Meijaard, and P. C. Groves. 2004. Evolution
and phylogeny of old world deer. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution;
33: 880-895.
Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder [editors]. 2005. Mammal Species of
the World (3rd Edition). Johns Hopkins University Press, 2,142 pp.
|
|
