Elk
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Suborder:	Ruminantia
Family:	Cervidae
Subfamily:	Cervinae
Genus:	Cervus
Species:	C. canadensis
Binomial name
Cervus canadensis (Erxleben, 1777)[1]
Reconstructed (light green) and recent (dark green) range of Cervus canadensis
Synonyms
various Cervus elaphus subspecies

The elk or wapiti (Cervus canadensis) is one of the largest species of deer in the world, and one of the largest land mammals in North America and eastern Asia. It was long believed to be a subspecies of the European red deer (Cervus elaphus), but evidence from a 2004 study of the mitochondrial DNA indicates that the two are distinct species.

This animal should not be confused with the larger moose (Alces alces), to which the name "elk" applies in Eurasia. Apart from the moose, the only other member of the deer family to rival the elk in size is the south Asian sambar (Rusa unicolor).

Elk range in forest and forest-edge habitat, feeding on grasses, plants, leaves, and bark. Although native to North America and eastern Asia, they have adapted well to countries where they have been introduced, including Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand. Their great adaptability may threaten endemic species and ecosystems into which they have been introduced.

Male elk have large antlers which are shed each year. Males also engage in ritualized mating behaviors during the rut, including posturing, antler wrestling (sparring), and bugling, a loud series of vocalizations which establishes dominance over other males and attracts females.

Elk are susceptible to a number of infectious diseases, some of which can be transmitted to livestock. Efforts to eliminate infectious diseases from elk populations, largely through vaccination, have had mixed success.

Some cultures revere the elk as a spiritual force. In parts of Asia, antlers and their velvet are used in traditional medicines. Elk are hunted as a game species; the meat is leaner and higher in protein than beef or chicken.^[2]

Naming and etymology[link]

Early European explorers in North America, who were familiar with the smaller red deer of Europe, thought that the larger North American animal resembled a moose, and consequently gave it the name elk, which is the common European name for moose. The word elk is related to the Latin alces, Old Norse elgr, Scandinavian elg/älg and German Elch, all of which refer to the animal known in North America as the moose.^[3]

The name wapiti is from the Shawnee and Cree word waapiti, meaning "white rump".^[4] This name is used in particular for the Asian subspecies (Altai wapiti, Tian Shan wapiti, Manchurian wapiti and Alashan wapiti), since in Eurasia the name elk continues to be used for the moose.

Asian subspecies are sometimes referred to as the maral, but this name applies primarily to the Caspian red deer (Cervus elaphus maral), a subspecies of red deer. There is a subspecies of elk in Mongolia called the Altai wapiti (Cervus canadensis sibiricus)^[5], also known as the Altai maral, Siberian wapiti or Siberian elk.^{[citation needed]} (This usage of "Siberian elk" is ambiguous, since the name also refers to Alces alces ssp. cameloides.^[6])

Taxonomy[link]

Elk at the Opal terrace at Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park

Members of the genus Cervus (and hence early relatives or possible ancestors of the elk) first appear in the fossil record 25 million years ago, during the Oligocene in Eurasia, but do not appear in the North American fossil record until the early Miocene.^[7] The extinct Irish Elk (Megaloceros) was not a member of the genus Cervus, but rather the largest member of the wider deer family (Cervidae) known from the fossil record.^[8]

Until recently, red deer and elk were considered to be one species, Cervus elaphus.^[5][9] However, mitochondrial DNA studies, conducted on hundreds of samples in 2004 from red deer and elk subspecies as well as other species of the Cervus deer family, strongly indicate that elk, or wapiti, should be a distinct species, namely Cervus canadensis.^[10] The previous classification had over a dozen subspecies under the C. elaphus species designation; DNA evidence concludes that elk are more closely related to Thorold's deer and even sika deer than they are to the red deer.^[10] Though elk and red deer can produce fertile offspring in captivity, geographic isolation between the species in the wild and differences in mating behaviors indicate that reproduction between them outside a controlled environment would be unlikely. However, the two species have freely inter-bred in New Zealand's Fiordland National Park, where the cross-bred animals have all but removed the pure elk blood from the area.^[11]

Subspecies[link]

Audubon's "Eastern Elk" which is now extinct

There are numerous subspecies of elk described, with six from North America and four from Asia, although some taxonomists consider them different ecotypes or races of the same species (adapted to local environments through minor changes in appearance and behavior). Populations vary as to antler shape and size, body size, coloration and mating behavior. DNA investigations of the Eurasian subspecies revealed that phenotypic variation in antlers, mane and rump patch development are based on "climatic-related lifestyle factors".^[12] Of the six subspecies of elk known to have inhabited North America in historical times, four remain, including the Roosevelt (C. canadensis roosevelti), Tule (C. canadensis nannodes), Manitoban (C. canadensis manitobensis) and Rocky Mountain (C. canadensis nelsoni).^[13] The Eastern elk (C. canadensis canadensis) and Merriam's Elk (C. canadensis merriami) subspecies have been extinct for at least a century.^[14][15]

Male tule elk in Point Reyes

Four subspecies described in Asia include the Altai Wapiti (C. canadensis sibiricus) and the Tianshan Wapiti (C. canadensis songaricus) . Two distinct subspecies found in China and Korea are the Manchurian wapiti (C. canadensis xanthopygus) and the Alashan wapitis (C. canadensis alashanicus). The Manchurian wapiti is darker and more reddish in coloration than the other populations. The Alashan wapiti of north central China is the smallest of all subspecies, has the lightest coloration and is the least studied.^[11] Biologist Valerius Geist, who has written on the world's various deer species, holds that there are only three subspecies of elk. Geist recognizes the Manchurian and Alashan wapiti but places all other elk into C. canadensis canadensis, claiming that classification of the four surviving North American groups as subspecies is driven, at least partly, for political purposes to secure individualized conservation and protective measures for each of the surviving populations.^[16]

Recent DNA studies suggest that there are no more than three or four subspecies of elk. All American forms seem to belong to one subspecies (Cervus canadensis canadensis). Even the Siberian elk (Cervus canadensis sibiricus) are more or less identical to the American forms and therefore may belong to this subspecies, too. However the Manchurian wapiti (Cervus canadensis xanthopygus) is clearly distinct from the Siberian forms, but not distinguishable from the Alashan wapiti. The Chinese forms MacNeill's Deer, Kansu red deer, and Tibetan red deer belong also to the wapitis and were not distinguishable from each other by mitochondrial DNA studies.^[10] These Chinese subspecies are sometimes treated as a distinct species, namely the Central Asian Red Deer (Cervus wallichi), which also includes the Kashmir stag.^[17]

Altai Wapiti (C. c. sibiricus)

Manchurian Wapiti (C. c. xanthopygus)

• Northern and American Group
  • Roosevelt Elk (C. c. roosevelti)
  • Tule Elk (C. canadensis nannodes)
  • Manitoban Elk (C. c. manitobensis)
  • Rocky Mountain Elk (C. c. nelsoni)
  • Eastern elk (C. c. canadensis; extinct)
  • Merriam's Elk (C. c. merriami; extinct)
  • Altai Wapiti (C. c. sibiricus)
  • Tianshan Wapiti (C. c. songaricus)
• Eastern group
  • Manchurian Wapiti (C. c. xanthopygus)
  • Alashan Wapiti (C. c. alashanicus)
• Southern Group (Central Asian Red Deer)
  • MacNeill's Deer (C. c. macneilli)
  • Kansu Red Deer (C. c. kansuensis)
  • Tibetan Red Deer (C. c. wallichii)
  • Kashmir Stag (C. c. hanglu)