Editing Reindeer (section)

== Description ==
Names follow international convention<ref name="MSW3">{{MSW3 Grubb|id=14200328}}</ref><ref name="HBW">Mattioli, S. (2011). "Caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'')", pp. 431–432 in: ''Handbook of the Mammals of the World Vol. 2: Hoofed Mammals''. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. {{ISBN|978-84-96553-77-4}}</ref> before the recent revision<ref name="Harding-2022">{{Cite journal |last=Harding |first=Lee E. |date=2022-08-26 |title=Available names for ''Rangifer'' (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Cervidae) species and subspecies |journal=ZooKeys |issue=1119 |pages=117–151 |doi=10.3897/zookeys.1119.80233 |pmid=36762356 |pmc=9848878 |bibcode=2022ZooK.1119..117H |issn=1313-2970 |doi-access=free}}</ref> (see [[Reindeer#Taxonomy]] below). Reindeer / caribou (''Rangifer'') vary in size from the smallest, the [[Svalbard reindeer]] (''R.'' (''t.'') ''platyrhynchus''), to the largest, Osborn's caribou (''R. t. osborni''). They also vary in coat color and antler architecture.

The North American range of caribou extends from Alaska through the [[Yukon]], the [[Northwest Territories]] and [[Nunavut]] throughout the [[tundra]], [[taiga]] (boreal forest) and south through the Canadian [[Rocky Mountains]].<ref name="Eder2011">{{cite book |last1=Eder |first1=Tamara |last2=Kennedy |first2=Gregory |title=Mammals of Canada|year=2011 |page=[https://archive.org/details/mammalsofcanada0000eder/page/81 81] |publisher=Lone Pine |location=Edmonton, Alberta |url=https://archive.org/details/mammalsofcanada0000eder |isbn=978-1-55105-857-3}}</ref> Of the eight subspecies classified by Harding (2022) into the Arctic caribou (''R. arcticus''), the migratory mainland [[barren-ground caribou]] of [[Arctic Alaska]] and [[Northern Canada]] (''R. t. arcticus''), summer in tundra and winter in taiga, a transitional forest zone between boreal forest and tundra; the nomadic [[Peary caribou]] (''R. t. pearyi'') lives in the [[polar desert]] of the high [[Arctic Archipelago]] and Grant's caribou (''R. t. granti'' also called the [[Porcupine caribou]]) lives in the western end of the [[Alaska Peninsula]] and the adjacent islands; the other four subspecies, Osborn's caribou (''R. t. osborni''), Stone's caribou (''R. t. stonei''), the Rocky Mountain caribou (''R. t. fortidens'') and the Selkirk Mountains caribou (''R. t. montanus'') are all [[wiktionary:montane|montane]]. The extinct insular [[Queen Charlotte Islands caribou]] (''R. t. dawsoni''), lived on [[Graham Island]] in [[Haida Gwaii]] (formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands).

The [[boreal woodland caribou]] (''R. t. caribou''), lives in the boreal forest of northeastern Canada: the Labrador or Ungava caribou of [[northern Quebec]] and northern [[Labrador]] (''R. t. caboti''), and the Newfoundland caribou of [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]] (''R. t. terranovae'') have been found to be genetically in the woodland caribou lineage.<ref name="Cronin-2003" /><ref name="Yannic-2013" />

In Eurasia, both wild and domestic reindeer are distributed across the tundra and into the taiga. Eurasian [[mountain reindeer]] (''R. t. tarandus'') are close to North American caribou genetically and visually, but with sufficient differences to warrant division into two species. The unique, insular Svalbard reindeer inhabits the [[Svalbard|Svalbard Archipelago]]. The [[Finnish forest reindeer]] (''R. t. fennicus'') is spottily distributed in the coniferous forest zones from Finland to east of [[Lake Baikal]]: the Siberian forest reindeer (''R. t. valentinae'', formerly called the Busk Mountains reindeer (''R. t. buskensis'') by American taxonomists) occupies the [[Altai Mountains|Altai]] and [[Ural Mountains]].

Male ("bull") and female ("cow") reindeer can grow antlers annually, although the proportion of females that grow antlers varies greatly between populations.<ref name="MSW3" /> Antlers are typically larger on males. Antler architecture varies by species and subspecies and, together with pelage differences, can often be used to distinguish between species and subspecies (see illustrations in Geist, 1991<ref>{{Cite conference |last=Geist |first=Valerius |chapter=On an objective definition of subspecies, taxa as legal entities, and its application to ''Rangifer tarandus'' Lin. 1758 |editor1=C. E. Butler |editor2=S. P. Mahoney |title=Proceedings 4th North American Caribou Workshop, 1989 |year=1991 |location=St. John’s, Newfoundland |pages=1–76}}</ref> and Geist, 1998).<ref name="Geist1998">{{cite book |last=Geist |first=Valerius |year=1998|title=Deer of the world: their evolution, behavior, and ecology |location=Mechanicsburg, PA |publisher=Stackpole Books|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bcWZX-IMEVkC|isbn=9780811704960}}</ref>