Deer (family Cervidae) form the most numerous and varied group of ungulates or large herbivores in four out of 6 continents. This review of the phylogeny and taxonomy of living deer species is based on information published recently in scientific papers. The first part presents the taxonomy of muntjacs (Muntiacini). This tribe includes 11–14 species living solitarily in closed habitats (mostly forests) in South and Southeast Asia. Their antlers are two-tined and Jan Pluháček.
The second part of this text on the systematics and phylogeny of extant cervids focuses on Cervini. This group includes more than 20 various deer species inhabiting forests and grasslands of Europe, Asia, and North America; 15 of them listed in the Red Data List of endangered species. During the last 10 years many papers have been published on their phylogeny. Its recent overview including relationships between individual species is summarized. and Jan Pluháček.
The last part of the series on cervid taxonomy involves the subfamily Capreolinae. This subfamily could be divided into two clades: an Old World clade including Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus, C. pygargus), Chinese Water Deer (Hydropotes inermis) and Moose (Alces alces) and a New World clade including Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), Mule Deer (the genus Odocoileus) and deer of Mesoamerica and South America (Ozotoceros bezoarticus, Blastocerus dichotomus and species of the genera Hippocamelus, Pudu and Mazama). Most of the species belonging to Capreolinae are evolutionary young. The evolutionary relationships among extant South American deer remain unclear. Cervids are the most successful ungulate family that has ever colonized South America. and Jan Pluháček.