TAXONOMY
Of moose and men.
The chart on the right shows the scientific breakdown of the classification levels which make the moose unique. It also shows the point at which the moose breaks away from man.
Vertebrata: Both moose and humans share the same 'sub-phylum' characterised by the presence of a backbone or spinal column.
Mamalia: Both moose and humans also share the same 'class' characterised by a number of traits including producing milk, the presence of hair, specialised teeth and being warm blooded.
Theria: The 'sub-class' is the lowest level shared by moose and humans, and in fact by almost all mammals with the exceptions being the playpus and echnida which lays eggs instead of giving bith to live young.
Artiodactyla: The first level of classification that distinguishes the moose from humans is the 'order'. Moose are classed as even-toed ungulates (hoofed animals). The moose has 4 toes on each foot with the weight of the animal spread evenly across the larger front pair.
Cervidae: The 'family' that moose belong to can be considered to include all type of deer of which the moose is the largest. They are characterised by their magnificent antlers.
Cervidae
Odocoilinae (or Capreolinae), which includes the moose, is one of 4 subfamilies of the family Cervidae. The family is comprised of about 45 species of deer. Generally they are slender graceful herbivores whose diet consists of grass bark and twigs. In most species only the male carries antlers that are shed yearly and used to combat other males during the mating season. Some Cervidae, such as Musk Deer, have large canine teeth and no antlers. These specialized teeth take the place of antlers for male competition.
The complete list is as follows :-
- Cervinae (Fallow deer, wapiti, etc)
- Hydropotinae (Chinese water deer)
- Muntiacinae (Tufted deer, Indian muntjac, etc)
- Odocoilinae (Moose, reindeer, etc)
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Odocoilinae
The moose (or European elk) is one of 15 species of the subfamily Odocoilinae. Other well known species in this group include the white-tailed deer, roe deer and caribou (or reindeer).
The complete list is as follows :-
- Alces alces (Moose)
- Blastocerus dichotomus (Marsh deer)
- Capreolus capreolus (Roe deer)
- Hippocamelus bisulcus (Chilean huemul)
- H. antisensis (Peruvian huemul)
- Mazama americana (Red brocket)
- M. gouazoubira (Brown brocket)
- M. rufina (Little red brocket)
- M. chunyi (Dwarf brocket)
- Odocoileus virginianus (White-tailed deer)
- O. hemionus (Mule deer)
- Ozotocerus bezoarticus (Pampas deer)
- Pudu pudu (Southern pudu)
- P. mephistophiles (Nothern pudu)
- Rangifer tarandus (Reindeer)
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For general facts about moose and other antlered creatures, see