Reindeer (redirected from Rangifer tarandus)

reindeer, ruminant mammal, genus Rangifer, of the deer family, found in arctic and subarctic regions of Eurasia and North America. It is the only deer in which both sexes have antlers. The Eurasian reindeer, Rangifer tarandus, is a small deer, the male standing about 4 ft (120 cm) high at the shoulder and weighing about 250 lb (113 kg), but it is extremely strong and has great powers of endurance. A reindeer can travel 40 mi (64 km) a day, pulling twice its own weight on a sled. Reindeer have long fur, light brown in summer and whitish in winter, with dense woolly undercoats. The antlers are many pronged, with characteristically curved main stems that sweep back and up from the forehead, then turn forward. The hooves are broad and rounded and in winter become concave, providing a good grip on icy ground. Reindeer are gregarious and migratory; they travel hundreds of miles between their summer and winter grounds in herds of up to 200,000 animals. They feed on a variety of plant matter, particularly grasses in summer and lichen in winter. Reindeer have been hunted for perhaps 30,000 years. They have been domesticated for many centuries in Lapland, N Siberia, and Mongolia, where they may be used for meat, milk, clothing, and transportation. They are used both to pull sleds and to carry burdens and riders. The Laplanders until recently were completely dependent upon the reindeer for their livelihood and followed the herds on their annual migrations. Reindeer living in a wild state in Eurasia are probably descended in part from domesticated strains. The wild reindeer of North America, called caribou, are larger than, but otherwise quite similar to, the Eurasian species. They have never been domesticated. Domesticated reindeer were introduced into Alaska from Siberia in the 1890s and became essential to the economy of the Alaskan Eskimo. Herds were established in Canada in the 1930s. Reindeer are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Artiodactyla, family Cervidae.

Bibliography

See P. S. Zhigunov, ed., Reindeer Husbandry (tr. 1968); D. F. Olson, Alaska Reindeer Herdsmen (1969).

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reindeer

Any species of Arctic deer in the genus Rangifer (family Cervidae), especially Old World species, some of which are domesticated. New World species are usually called caribou. The reindeer herded by the Sami (Lapps) are used as draft and pack animals and as a source of meat and milk; their skins are used for tents, boots, and other clothing. In Siberia they are used as pack animals and as mounts.

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reindeer

a large deer, Rangifer tarandus, having large branched antlers in the male and female and inhabiting the arctic regions of Greenland, Europe, and Asia. It also occurs in North America, where it is known as a caribou

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reindeer [′rān‚dir]

(vertebrate zoology)

Rangifer tarandus.A migratory ruminant of the deer family (Cervidae) which inhabits the Arctic region and has a circumpolar distribution; characteristically, both sexes have antlers and are brown with yellow-white areas on the neck and chest.

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Reindeer 

(Rangifer tarandus), an artiodactyl of the family Cervidae. Males reach a length of 220 cm, a height at the shoulders of 140 cm, and a weight of 220 kg. The females are smaller than the males. In the winter the fur is thick and long, and there is a highly developed undercoat. In the summer the coat is shorter and thinner. The summer coloration is a uniform reddish or grayish brown; the winter pelage is lighter, sometimes almost white. Both sexes have antlers; however, those of the males are larger. The head is small, and there is a covering of hair over the nose. The ears are short and rounded. The reindeer has spreading hooves: the middle hooves are broad and flat, and the lateral ones are long (when the animal is standing, they touch the ground). Thus, the hooves have a comparatively large area of support, which facilitates locomotion in deep snow and mud.

The reindeer is distributed in Europe, in Asia, and in North America (where it is called the caribou). It inhabits polar islands, tundra, and valley and mountain taiga. The reindeer is a polygamous herd animal. In the winter its diet consists principally of lichens (mainly reindeer moss), twigs, and buds of trees and shrubs; in the summer the animal feeds on berries, mushrooms, and the leaves and shoots of herbaceous plants and shrubs. Reindeer make seasonal migrations, traveling hundreds of kilometers in the winter from the tundra to regions in the forest tundra and northern taiga having an abundance of reindeer moss.

Rutting and mating occurs in September and October. In May or June, after a gestation period of about 225 days, the females bear one or, less frequently, two young. The young nurse for four or five months. Sexual maturity is attained in the second year of life. Shortly after rutting, the males shed their horns; new horns develop from April to August. The females shed their horns after giving birth, and development of new ones is completed in September. Molting occurs once a year.

Reindeer are cautious, sensitive animals, with a well-developed sense of smell. They are able to swim across rivers and lakes. Reindeer are commercially valued for their meat and their hides, which are used in the manufacture of fur garments and suede.

The wild reindeer is the ancestor of the domesticated reindeer, which has great significance in the economy of peoples of the Far North. SeeDEER RAISING.

REFERENCES

See references under CERVIDAE.

IU. P. IAZAN