Amazing Reindeer Subspecies - Animal Kingdom

• published: 12 Apr 2015
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Thanks for watching.... 1. Svalbard reindeer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard_reindeer 2. Porcupine Caribou http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porcupine_caribou 3. Peary Caribou http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peary_caribou 4. Finnish Forest Reindeer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_forest_reindeer 5. Barren-ground Caribou http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barren-ground_caribou 6. South Georgian Reindeer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reindeer_in_South_Georgia 7. Migratory Woodland Caribou http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migratory_woodland_caribou Source: http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2013/12/12/antler-management-7-amazing-reindeer-subspecies/ Music: Morning Walk,Jingle Punks; YouTube Audio Library The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), also known as caribou in North America, is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, Subarctic, tundra, boreal and mountainous regions of northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. This includes both sedentary and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and at least one has already gone extinct. Reindeer vary considerably in colour and size. In most populations, both sexes grow antlers annually, but females lack antlers in a few. Antlers are typically larger on males. Hunting of wild reindeer and herding of semi-domesticated reindeer (for meat, hides, antlers, milk and transportation) are important to several Arctic and Subarctic peoples. In Lapland, reindeer pull pulks. The reindeer is well known due to Santa Claus's sleigh being pulled by flying reindeer in Christmas folklore. Current classifications of Rangifer tarandus, either with prevailing taxonomy on subspecies, designations based on ecotypes, and natural population groupings, fail to capture "the variability of caribou across their range in Canada" needed for effective species conservation and management. "Across the range of a species, individuals may display considerable morphological, genetic, and behavioural variability reflective of both plasticity and adaptation to local environments." COSEWIC developed Designated Unit (DU) attribution to add to classifications already in use. The species taxonomic name Rangifer tarandus was defined by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The subspecies taxonomic name, Rangifer tarandus caribou was defined by Gmelin in 1788. Based on Banfield's often-cited A Revision of the Reindeer and Caribou, Genus Rangifer (1961), R. t. caboti (Labrador caribou), R. t. osborni (Osborn's caribou—from British Columbia) and R. t. terraenovae (Newfoundland caribou) were considered invalid and included in R. t. caribou. Some recent authorities have considered them all valid, even suggesting that they are quite distinct. In their book entitled Mammal Species of the World, American zoologist Don E. Wilson and DeeAnn Reeder agree with Valerius Geist, specialist on large North American mammals, that this range actually includes several subspecies. Geist (2007) argued that the "true woodland caribou, the uniformly dark, small-maned type with the frontally emphasized, flat-beamed antlers", which is "scattered thinly along the southern rim of North American caribou distribution" has been incorrectly classified. He affirms that "true woodland caribou is very rare, in very great difficulties and requires the most urgent of attention." In 2005, an analysis of mtDNA found differences between the caribou from Newfoundland, Labrador, south-western Canada and south-eastern Canada, but maintained all in R. t caribou. Mallory and Hillis argued that, "Although the taxonomic designations reflect evolutionary events, they do not appear to reflect current ecological conditions. In numerous instances, populations of the same subspecies have evolved different demographic and behavioural adaptations, while populations from separate subspecies have evolved similar demographic and behavioural patterns... "[U]nderstanding ecotype in relation to existing ecological constraints and releases may be more important than the taxonomic relationships between populations." Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reindeer