| Hybrid mule x white-tailed deer | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Cervidae |
| Subfamily: | Capreolinae |
| Tribe: | Odocoileini |
| Genus: | Odocoileus |
| Species: | |
Odocoileus hemionus × virginianus is a hybrid of two common North American deer species, the mule deer and the white-tailed deer.[1] This hybridization is one-way; because of different mating strategies in these species, a male white-tailed deer is much more likely to copulate with a female mule deer than is the reverse and when an offspring is produced, the child of male white-tailed deer is generally stronger and healthier than one of male mule deer.[2] Nonetheless, hybrids are not likely to survive past their first year, being more vulnerable to predation than non-hybrids of either species. This one-way hybridization a contributing factor of declining mule deer populations.[2]
References
edit- ^ "Mule × White-tailed Deer (Hybrid Odocoileus hemionus × virginianus)". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
- ^ a b Austin, Dennis D. (2010). "Mule Deer Relationships with Livestock, Elk, and White-tailed Deer". Mule Deer. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press. pp. 63–75. ISBN 978-0-87421-742-1. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
- ^ Bradley, Robert D.; Bryant, Fred C.; Bradley, Lisa C.; Haynie, Michelle L.; Baker, Robert J. (December 2003). "IMPLICATIONS OF HYBRIDIZATION BETWEEN WHITE-TAILED DEER AND MULE DEER". The Southwestern Naturalist. 48 (4): 654–660. doi:10.1894/0038-4909(2003)048%3C0654:IOHBWD%3E2.0.CO;2. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
- ^ "Fact Sheet 30: Mule Deer and White-Tailed Deer Hybridization" (PDF). WAFWA.org. Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
- ^ Combe, Fraser J.; Jaster, Levi; Ricketts, Andrew; Haukos, David; Hope, Andrew G. (January 2022). "Population genomics of free‐ranging Great Plains white‐tailed and mule deer reflects a long history of interspecific hybridization". Evolutionary Applications. 15 (1): 111–131. doi:10.1111/eva.13330.
- ^ Russell, Ty; Cullingham, Catherine; Ball, Mark; Pybus, Margo; Coltman, David (July 2021). "Extent and direction of introgressive hybridization of mule and white‐tailed deer in western Canada". Evolutionary Applications. 14 (7): 1914–1925. doi:10.1111/eva.13250.
- ^ Carr, S M; Ballinger, S W; Derr, J N; Blankenship, L H; Bickham, J W (December 1986). "Mitochondrial DNA analysis of hybridization between sympatric white-tailed deer and mule deer in west Texas". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 83 (24): 9576–9580. doi:10.1073/pnas.83.24.9576.
- ^ Heffelfinger, J. (March 2011). "Tails with a Dark Side: The truth about whitetail–mule deer hybrids". Coues Whitetail. Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2014.