Hydropotes (subfamily) en

In some classifications, Hydropotes is considered a third subfamily of the family Cervidae, along with Old World deer (subfamily Cervinae) and New World deer (subfamily Capreolinae). This subfamily was created to contain the Chinese water deer (Hydropotes inermis), a very small Asian deer of the family Cervidae (order Artiodactyla), native to fertile river bottoms in Korea and the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) valley in China. It is the only species of deer in which males lack antlers; instead, they are armed with long, curved, and sharp upper canine teeth that protrude from the mouth. These tusks may exceed 5 cm (2 inches) in length. The water deer is also the only deer with inguinal glands. Although water deer resemble extinct primitive deer in lacking antlers, they evolved from ancestors with antlers that were subsequently lost. Their morphology indicates that they are New World deer. Males stand about 50 cm (20 inches) tall at the shoulder and weigh up to 13 kg (29 pounds); females weigh up to 11 kg (24 pounds). They have a rather uniformly colored coat, yellowish brown above and yellowish white below. The tail is very short, and there is no rump patch. Their coarse, thick coat and fur-covered ears are adaptations to cold, snowy winters.