Of the above, Reindeer and Elk are dealt with in separate articles (qq.v.).
The first or typical group of the genus _Cervus_ includes the red-deer (_Cervus elaphus_) of Europe and western Asia, of which there are several local races, such as the large _C. elaphus maral_ of eastern Europe and Persia, which is often partially spotted above and dark-coloured below, the smaller _C. e. barbarus_ of Tunisia and Morocco, and the still smaller _C. e. corsicanus_ of Corsica. The Scandinavian red-deer is the typical form of the species. In all red-deer the antlers are rounded, and show a more or less marked tendency to form a cup at the summit. Wapiti, on the other hand, show a marked tendency to the flattening of the antlers, with a great development of the fourth tine, which is larger than all the others, and the whole of the tines above this in the same plane, or nearly so, this plane being the same as the long axis of the animal. Normally no cup is developed at the summit of the antler. The tail, too, is shorter than in the red-deer; while in winter the under parts become very dark, and the upper surface often bleaches almost white. The cry of the stags in the breeding season is also different. The typical representative of the group is the North American wapiti _C. canadensis_, but there are several closely allied races in Central Asia, such as _C. canadensis songaricus_ and _C. c. bactrianus_, while in Manchuria the subgroup is represented by _C. c. xanthopygus_, in which the summer coat is reddish instead of grey. The hangul (_C. cashmirianus_) of Kashmir is a distinct dark-coloured species, in which the antlers tend to turn in at the summit; while _C. yarcandensis_, of the Tarim Valley, Turkestan, is a redder animal, with a wholly rufous tail, and antlers usually terminating in a simple fork placed in a transverse plane. Another Asiatic species is the great shou (_C. affinis_) of the Chumbi Valley, in which the antlers curve forwards in a remarkable manner. Lastly _C. albirostris_, of Tibet, is easily recognized by its white muzzle, and smooth, whitish, flattened antlers, which have fewer tines than those of the other members of the group, all placed in one plane.
The second group of the genus _Cervus_, forming the subgenus _Pseudaxis_, is typified by the handsome little Japanese deer, or sika, _C. (P.) sika_, in which the antlers are four-tined, and covered with red "velvet" when first grown, while the coat is fully spotted in summer, but more or less uniformly brown in winter. The most distinctive feature of the deer of this group is, however, the patch of long erectile white hairs on the buttocks, which, although inconspicuous when the animals are quiescent, is expanded into a large chrysanthemum-like bunch when they start to run or are otherwise excited. The patch then forms a guiding signal for the members of the herd when in flight. On the mainland of Manchuria both the typical sika, and a larger race (_C. sika manchuricus_), occur. A still larger and finer animal is the Pekin sika (_C. hortulorum_), of northern Manchuria, which is as large as a small red-deer; it is represented in the Yang-tse valley by a local race, _C. h. kopschi_. Formosa possesses a species of its own (_C. taëvanus_), which, in correlation with the perpetual verdure of that island, is spotted at all seasons.