Caribou 1 Caribou This article is about the North American animal. For the Eurasian animal, see Reindeer. For other uses, see Caribou (disambiguation). Caribou (North America) Male Porcupine caribou R. t. granti in Alaska Conservation status Least Concern (IUCN 3.1) Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Artiodactyla Family: Cervidae Subfamily: Capreolinae Genus: Rangifer C.H. Smith, 1827 Species: R. tarandus Binomial name Rangifer tarandus (Linnaeus, 1758) Subspecies in North America • R. t. caribou – Canada and U.S • R. t. granti – Alaska, Yukon • R. t. groenlandicus – Nunavut, NWT, western Greenland • R. t. pearyi – Baffin Island, Nunavut, NWT Also see text Caribou 2 Approximate range of caribou subspecies in North America. Overlap is possible for contiguous range. 1.Rangifer tarandus caribousubdivided into ecotypes: woodland (boreal), woodland (migratory), woodland (montane), 2.R t Dawsoni extinct 1907, 3. R t granti, 4.R t groenlandicus, 5.Groenlandicus/Pearyi 6. R t pearyi Synonyms reindeer in Europe and Eurasia The caribou,[1] also known as reindeer and wild reindeer in Europe and Eurasia,[1] of the same species—Rangifer tarandus— is a medium size ungulate of the Cervidae family which also includes wapiti, moose and deer. The North American range of this Holarctic animal extends from Alaska, through the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, into the boreal forest and south through the Canadian Rockies and the Columbia and Selkirk Mountains.[2] The caribou is a specialist that is well adapted to cooler climates with hollow-hair fur that covers almost all of its body including its nose, and provides insulation in winter and flotation for swimming.[2] Two major subspecies in North America, the R. t. granti and the R. t. groenlandicus form large herds and undertake lengthy seasonal migrations from birthing grounds, to summer and winter feeding grounds in the tundra and taiga. The migrations of R. t. granti Porcupine herd are among the longest of any terrestrial mammal.[2] The George River caribou herd (GRCH) of the R. t. caribou subspecies in the Ungava area—once the largest Rangifer tarandus herd in the world—declined to 74 131 animals—a drop of up to 92%.[3] In 2011 the combined Beverly/Ahiak herd in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, had approximately 124 000 caribou— at least a 50% drop since 1994; the Western caribou herd had 325 000 animals and the[4][5] Qamanirjuaq caribou herd which is relatively stable had declined from 496 000 in 1994 to 345 000 in 2008.[6] The meta-population of the more sedentary subspecies R. t. caribou or Woodland caribou spans the boreal forest from the Northwest Territories to Labrador. They are shy animals whose main food source is arboreal lichens[7] of the mature forests[8] and mainly live in marshes, bogs, lakes, and river regions.[9][10] Since it takes hundreds of years for a biomass of tree lichen to be adequate to sustain boreal woodland caribou populations, deforestation is a major factor in the decline of their numbers.[7] The historic range of the boreal woodland caribou covered over half of present-day Canada,[11] stretching from Alaska to Newfoundland and Labrador and as far south as New England, Idaho, and Washington. The smallest subspecies in North America, the Peary Caribou is found in the High and Low Arctic, in the Northwest Territories—particularly, Banks Island and in Nunavut—particularly, Baffin Island. Caribou can reach a speed of 60–80 km/h (37–50 mph). Young caribou can already outrun an Olympic sprinter when only a day old.[12] Ongoing human development of caribou habitat has caused populations of Woodland caribou to disappear from their original southern range. In particular, the caribou was extirpated in many areas of eastern North America in the beginning of the 20th century. Woodland caribou was designated as threatened in 2002.[13] Environment Canada Caribou 3 reported in 2011 that there were approximately 34 000 boreal caribou in 51 ranges remaining in Canada (Environment Canada, 2011b).[14] The caribou's favourite winter food is fruticose deer lichen. Seventy percent of the diet of woodland caribou consists of arboreal lichen which take hundreds of years to grow and are therefore only found in mature forests.[8] Barren-ground, Porcupine and Peary caribou live in the tundra while the shy Woodland caribou, prefers the boreal forest. Although there are many variations in colour and size, Canadian Geographic magazine states that in general, Barren-ground caribou have larger antlers than the woodland caribou subspecies. Barren-ground caribou have large distinguishing white patches of fur that extend beyond the neck onto the back, a white muzzle and a face that is darker than the rest of the body. Their fur is sandy-beige in winter and light brown in summer. The Woodland caribou have a wider more compact body and wider antlers. The coat is a rich dark brown in summer and dark grey in winter. Both the barren-ground and woodland caribou often have white "socks" above their hooves.[15] On average the male weighs 90–110 kg (200–240 lb) and measures .9–1.7 m (3.0–5.6 ft) in shoulder height. The Woodland caribou are the largest and the Peary caribou the smallest. The largest Alaskan male caribou can weigh as much as 310 kilograms (680 lb). Both sexes grow antlers, though in a some Woodland caribou populations, females lack antlers completely. Antlers are larger in males. Naming and etymology Further information: Reindeer The name caribou comes, through the French, from the Mi'kmaq xalibu or Qalipu meaning "the one who paws". Marc Lescarbot in his publication in French 1610 [16] used the term "caribou." Silas Tertius Rand translated the Mi'kmaq word Kaleboo as caribou in his Mi'kmaq-English.[17][18] The Gwich’in people have over two dozen distinct caribou-related words.[19]In Inuktitut, spoken in the eastern Arctic, the caribou is known by the name tuktu.[20] With its range across North America and depth of history, Rangifer tarandus has countless aboriginal names. The nomadic Naskapi people followed George River Caribou Herd.[21] "By the late 1940s, the pressures of the fur trade, high rates of mortality and debilitation from diseases communicated by Europeans, and the effects of the virtual disappearance of the herd reduced the Naskapi to a state where their very survival was threatened."[22] Names for caribou in indigenous languages caribou syllabics meaning language people region R. t. subspecies and language or ecotype family qalipu one who Mi'kmaq Mi'kmaq what is now Eastern R. t. caribou language paws Canada and U.S. depth atihkw language Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi region R. t. caribou Tuttut Inupiaq Inuipiat people Alaska R. t. granti (Western [23] tumai language Arctic caribou herd) bedzeyh Koyukon culture Alaska (Western R. t. granti [5] tene Athabaskan Arctic caribou herd) tuntut Yup'ik Central Alaskan Yup'ik Alaska (Western R. t. granti [5] tumait people Arctic caribou herd) [24] Tuktu (Inuktitut Inuit Nunavut R. t. groenlandicus (barren-ground) and Labrador Caribou 4 [19] vadzaih caribou Gwich’in Gwich’in Northwest Territories R. t. granti language (Porcupine River) [25] Wëdzey Hän atíhko caribou Woods Cree Cree Northern Manitoba R t groenlandicus Algonquian languages Taxonomy and evolution The species taxonomic name Rangifer tarandus (reindeer, caribou) was defined by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The subspecies taxonomic name, Rangifer tarandus caribou was defined by Gmelin in 1788. 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.[26] "Across the range of a species, individuals may display considerable morphological, genetic, and behavioural variability reflective of both plasticity and adaptation to local environments."[27] COSEWIC developed Designated Unit (DU) attribution to add to classifications already in use.[26] Based on Banfield's often-cited A Revision of the Reindeer and Caribou, Genus Rangifer (1961),[28] R. t. caboti(LabradorCaribou), 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.[29][30][31][32][33] Geist (2007) argued that the "true woodland caribou, the uniformly dark, small-manned 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."[34] 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.[35] Mallory and Hillis[36] argued that, "Although the taxonomic designations reflect evolutionary events, they do not appear to reflect The woodland caribou's frontally emphasized, current ecological conditions. In numerous instances, populations of flat-beamed antlers are evident in this drawing by the same subspecies have evolved different demographic and Foresman 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."[36] Caribou 5 Evolution The "glacial-interglacial cycles of the upper Pleistocene had a major influence on the evolution" of Rangifer tarandus and other Arctic and sub-Arctic species.