Talk:Black-tailed Deer

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--71.140.21.210 04:18, 11 May 2007 (UTC)Sucker

There seems to be more than a little confusion as to where the black-tailed deer fits in the grand scheme of things. At the moment if you start out with a search of deer and try to drill down, you never get here.Rvannatta 00:53, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

I believe this classification is outdated. According to ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System), the Black-tailed Deer, synonymous with the Rocky Mountain Mule Deer, should be Odocoileus hemionus hemionus, not O. h. columbianus. Would someone like to confirm/change this? Thanks. Somerut 21:23, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] classification of blacktailed' deer.

I don't know what is authoratative on this matter. It's my impression that the issue is still in dispute.

It's pretty clear to anyone familar with the Blacktails found west of the cascades and the mule deer found on the east side that they are not the same. While the markings are similar, there is a major difference in the size with the mule deer being consistently substantially and visibly larger than you ever see of the West side deer. the difference is far more than can be accounted for in difference in diet.

There may me some other explanation---i.e. interbred with Columbian Whitetails or who knows what, but it is probably not an issue that will be resolved without some serious DNA type research.

Likewise, I didn't write the language that presently exists, nor will I call the Wiki cops if it gets rewritten, though I think it would be prudent to continue to note the historical conflict, at least until a scientific paper can be found addressing the issue, as I at least, believe there is an issueRvannatta 02:24, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] blacktail deer as opposed to mule deer

I'm aware that there is some confusion still as to whether blacktails represent a separate species or are a subspecies of mule deer. The article seems to blur the lines further as mule deer were originally called black tailed deer by sportsmen. Black tailed deer never lived as far east as Wyoming, but are found exclusively in the Pacific coast ranges from California to Alaska including some of the Aleutian chain. Blacktails are significantly smaller than mule deer, have antler configuration similar to that of white-tailed deer, while having markings and tails similar to that of mule deer. Blacktail are significantly different from the other two species of odocoileus as to be managed separately by wildlife management. 69.29.252.113 (talk) 23:57, 18 February 2008 (UTC)