Elk




The elk or wapiti is the second largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The word "elk" originally referred to the European variety of the moose, Alces alces, but was transferred to Cervus canadensis by North American colonists.
The name "wapiti" is derived from a Shawnee and Cree word meaning "white rump", after the distinctive light fur around the tail region which the animals may fluff-up or raise to signal their agitation or distress to one another, when fleeing perceived threats, or among males courting females and sparring for dominance. A similar trait is seen in other artiodactyl species, like the bighorn sheep, pronghorn and the white-tailed deer, to varying degrees.
Elk dwell in open forest and forest-edge habitats, grazing on grasses and sedges and browsing higher-growing plants, leaves, twigs and bark. Male elk have large, blood- and nerve-filled antlers, which they routinely shed each year as the weather warms. Males also engage in ritualized mating behaviors during the mating season, including posturing to attract females, antler-wrestling, and bugling, a loud series of throaty whistles, bellows, screams, and other vocalizations that establish dominance over other males and aim to attract females.
Elk were long believed to belong to a subspecies of the European red deer, but evidence from many mitochondrial DNA genetic studies, beginning in 1998, shows that the two are distinct species. The elk's wider rump-patch and paler-hued antlers are key morphological differences that distinguish C. canadensis from C. elaphus. Although it is currently only native to North America, and Central, East and North Asia, elk once had a much wider distribution in the past; prehistoric populations were present across Eurasia and into Western Europe during the Late Pleistocene, surviving into the early Holocene in Southern Sweden and the Alps. The now-extinct North American Merriam's elk subspecies once ranged south into Mexico. The wapiti has also successfully adapted to countries outside of its natural range where it has been introduced, including Argentina and New Zealand; the animal's adaptability in these areas may, in fact, be so successful as to threaten the sensitive endemic ecosystems and species it encounters.
As a member of the Artiodactyla order, elk are susceptible to several infectious diseases which can be transmitted to or from domesticated livestock. Efforts to eliminate infectious diseases from elk populations, primarily by vaccination, have had mixed success. Some cultures revere the elk as having spiritual significance. Antlers and velvet are used in traditional medicines in parts of Asia; the production of ground antler and velvet supplements is also a thriving naturopathic industry in several countries, including the United States, China and Canada. The elk is hunted as a game species, and their meat is lean and higher in protein than beef or chicken.

Naming and etymology

By the 17th century, Alces alces had long been extirpated from the British Isles, and the meaning of the word "elk" to English-speakers became rather vague, acquiring a meaning similar to "large deer". The name wapiti is from the Shawnee and Cree word waapiti, meaning "white rump". There is a subspecies of wapiti in Mongolia called the Altai wapiti, also known as the Altai maral.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the etymology of the word "elk" is "of obscure history". In Classical Antiquity, the European Alces alces was known as and, words probably borrowed from a Germanic language or another language of northern Europe. By the 8th century, during the Early Middle Ages, the moose was known as derived from the Proto-Germanic: *elho-, *elhon- and possibly connected with the. Later, the species became known in Middle English as elk, elcke, or elke, appearing in the Latinized form alke, with the spelling alce borrowed directly from. Noting that elk "is not the normal phonetic representative" of the Old English elch, the Oxford English Dictionary derives elk from, itself from.
The American Cervus canadensis was recognized as a relative of the red deer of Europe, and so Cervus canadensis were referred to as "red deer". Richard Hakluyt refers to North America as a "lande... full of many beastes, as redd dere" in his 1584 Discourse Concerning Western Planting. Similarly, John Smith's 1616 A Description of New England referred to red deer. Sir William Talbot's 1672 English translation of John Lederer's Latin Discoveries likewise called the species "red deer", but noted in parentheses that they were "for their unusual largeness improperly termed Elks by ignorant people". Both Thomas Jefferson's 1785 Notes on the State of Virginia and David Bailie Warden's 1816 Statistical, Political, and Historical Account of the United States used "red deer" to refer to Cervus canadensis.

Taxonomy

Members of the genus Cervus 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. The extinct Irish elk was not a member of the genus Cervus but rather the largest member of the wider deer family known from the fossil record.
Until recently, red deer and elk were considered to be one species, Cervus elaphus, with over a dozen subspecies. But mitochondrial DNA studies conducted in 2004 on hundreds of samples from red deer and elk subspecies and other species of the Cervus deer family, strongly indicate that elk, or wapiti, should be a distinct species, namely Cervus canadensis. DNA evidence validates that elk are more closely related to Thorold's deer and even sika deer than they are to the red deer.
Elk and red deer produce fertile offspring in captivity, and the two species have freely inter-bred in New Zealand's Fiordland National Park. The cross-bred animals have resulted in the disappearance of virtually all pure elk blood from the area. Key morphological differences that distinguish C. canadensis from C. elaphus are the former's wider rump patch and paler-hued antlers.

Subspecies

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. Populations vary in 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".
Of the six subspecies of elk known to have inhabited North America in historical times, four remain, including the Roosevelt, Tule, Manitoban and Rocky Mountain elk. The eastern elk and Merriam's elk subspecies have been extinct for at least a century.
Four subspecies described from the Asian continent include the Altai wapiti and the Tianshan wapiti. Two distinct subspecies found in China, Mongolia, the Korean Peninsula and Siberia are the Manchurian wapiti and the Alashan wapiti. The Manchurian subspecies is darker, and more reddish, in coloration than other populations. The Alashan wapiti of northern Central China is the smallest of all the subspecies, has the lightest coloration, and is one of the least-studied.
Recent DNA analyses suggest that there are no more than three or four total subspecies of elk. All American forms, aside from possibly the Tule and the Roosevelt's elk, seem to belong to one subspecies—Cervus c. canadensis; even the Siberian elk is, more or less, physically identical to the American forms, and thus may belong to this subspecies, too. However, the Manchurian wapiti is clearly distinct from the Siberian forms, but not distinguishable from the Alashan wapiti. Still, due to the insufficient genetic material that rejects monophyly of C. canadensis, some researchers consider it premature to include the Manchurian wapiti as a true subspecies of wapiti, and that it likely needs to be elevated to its own species, C. xanthopygus. The Chinese forms also belong to the wapiti, and were not distinguishable from each other by mitochondrial DNA studies. These Chinese subspecies are sometimes treated as a distinct species, namely the Central Asian red deer, which also includes the Kashmir stag.
Elk have thick bodies with slender legs and short tails. They have a shoulder height of with a nose-to-tail length of. Males are larger and weigh while females weigh. The largest of the subspecies is the Roosevelt elk, found west of the Cascade Range in the U.S. states of California, Oregon and Washington, and in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Roosevelt elk have been introduced into Alaska, where the largest males are estimated to weigh up to. More typically, male Roosevelt elk weigh around, while females weigh. Male tule elk weigh while females weigh. The whole weights of adult male Manitoban elk range from. Females have a mean weight of. The elk is the second largest extant species of deer, after the moose.
Antlers are made of bone, which can grow at a rate of per day. While actively growing, a soft layer of highly vascularized skin known as velvet covers and protects them. This is shed in the summer when the antlers have fully developed. Bull elk typically have around six tines on each antler. The Siberian and North American elk carry the largest antlers while the Altai wapiti has the smallest. Roosevelt bull antlers can weigh. The formation and retention of antlers are testosterone-driven. In late winter and early spring, the testosterone level drops, which causes the antlers to shed.
During the fall, elk grow a thicker coat of hair, which helps to insulate them during the winter. Both male and female North American elk grow thin neck manes; females of other subspecies may not. By early summer, the heavy winter coat has been shed. Elk are known to rub against trees and other objects to help remove hair from their bodies. All elk have small and clearly defined rump patches with short tails. They have different coloration based on the seasons and types of habitats, with gray or lighter coloration prevalent in the winter and a more reddish, darker coat in the summer. Subspecies living in arid climates tend to have lighter colored coats than do those living in forests. Most have lighter yellow-brown to orange-brown coats in contrast to dark brown hair on the head, neck, and legs during the summer. Forest-adapted Manchurian and Alaskan wapitis have red or reddish-brown coats with less contrast between the body coat and the rest of the body during the summer months. Calves are born spotted, as is common with many deer species, and lose them by the end of summer. Adult Manchurian wapiti may retain a few orange spots on the back of their summer coats until they are older. This characteristic has also been observed in the forest-adapted European red deer.