Odocoileus Virginianus

Bio 150
Scott Baker
Term Paper
Odocoileus virginianus

Overview
The goal of this term paper is to give a very general overview of the species O. Virginianus, otherwise commonly known as the Whitetail deer. The term Odocoileus is Greek, the word odous means tooth and koilos means hollow referring to the hollow teeth of this genus. (2.)   Included in this paper will be full taxonomy, identification, habitat, diet, and predators. Also to be included will some interesting facts regarding O. Virginianus.
Taxonomy
The complete taxonomy for the focus of this paper is as follows; Kingdom-Animalia, Phylum-Chordata, Class-Mammalia, Order-Artiodactyla, Family-Cervidae, Genus-Odocoileus, and Species-O. virginianus. It can be noted the species particular to Fort Berthold in Mountrail County is Species-O. v. dacotensinsis. (1.)
Identification and general description
Virginianus are quite distinct if you happen to see them, which most people do on the sides of roads as they are responsible for tens of thousands of collisions with automobiles each year. (3.) The whitetail male or buck typically stands from 3-3.5 feet tall at the shoulders and can weigh as much as 300 pounds. A female or doe is slightly smaller and lacks antlers the males have during certain parts of the year. (4.) During the months starting with April until around August male Whitetail grow antlers which are first covered by a soft tissue known as velvet during the time when the antlers are growing which is then rubbed off when growing ceases. The size and length of antlers depends greatly on nutrition, genetics and the age of the deer.
At birth Whitetail are rust-colored with white spots in order to provide camouflage from predators. After three or four months the birth coat is shed and is replaced by a grayish-brown coat and it also sports a brown fall and winter coat. A summer coat on a Whitetail is typically reddish brown with the chin and throat areas being white during all seasons. (2.)...