reindeer

reindeer

reindeer (caribou) Large deer of northern latitudes, which ranges from Scandinavia across Siberia to North America. It has thick fur and broad hoofs. It stands up to 1.4m (4.6ft) tall at the shoulders, and feeds on grasses and saplings in the summer and lichens it finds beneath the snow in the winter. It is domesticated for meat and as a pack animal by the Lapps. Both sexes have antlers. Species Rangifer tarandus.

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"reindeer." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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reindeer

rein·deer / ˈrānˌdir/ • n. (pl. same or reindeers) a deer (genus Rangifer) of the tundra and subarctic regions of Eurasia and North America, both sexes of which have large branching antlers. Most Eurasian reindeer are domesticated and used for drawing sleds and as a source of milk, flesh, and hide.

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"reindeer." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"reindeer." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-reindeer.html

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reindeer

reindeer ruminant mammal, genus Rangifer, of the deer family, found in arctic and subarctic regions of Eurasia and North America. It is the only deer in which both sexes have antlers. The Eurasian reindeer, Rangifer tarandus, is a small deer, the male standing about 4 ft (120 cm) high at the shoulder and weighing about 250 lb (113 kg), but it is extremely strong and has great powers of endurance. A reindeer can travel 40 mi (64 km) a day, pulling twice its own weight on a sled. Reindeer have long fur, light brown in summer and whitish in winter, with dense woolly undercoats. The antlers are many pronged, with characteristically curved main stems that sweep back and up from the forehead, then turn forward. The hooves are broad and rounded and in winter become concave, providing a good grip on icy ground. Reindeer are gregarious and migratory; they travel hundreds of miles between their summer and winter grounds in herds of up to 200,000 animals. They feed on a variety of plant matter, particularly grasses in summer and lichen in winter. Reindeer have been hunted for perhaps 30,000 years. They have been domesticated for many centuries in Lapland, N Siberia, and Mongolia, where they may be used for meat, milk, clothing, and transportation. They are used both to pull sleds and to carry burdens and riders. The Laplanders until recently were completely dependent upon the reindeer for their livelihood and followed the herds on their annual migrations. Reindeer living in a wild state in Eurasia are probably descended in part from domesticated strains. The wild reindeer of North America, called caribou , are larger than, but otherwise quite similar to, the Eurasian species. They have never been domesticated. Domesticated reindeer were introduced into Alaska from Siberia in the 1890s and became essential to the economy of the Alaskan Eskimo. Herds were established in Canada in the 1930s. Reindeer are classified in the phylum Chordata , subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Artiodactyla, family Cervidae.

Bibliography: See P. S. Zhigunov, ed., Reindeer Husbandry (tr. 1968); D. F. Olson, Alaska Reindeer Herdsmen (1969).

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"reindeer." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Reindeer Lake

Reindeer Lake one of the largest lakes in Canada, 2,467 sq mi (6,390 sq km), NE Sask. and NW Man. The Reindeer River drains it S to the Churchill River. The lake has many islands and is noted for its commercial and sport fishing.

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reindeer

reindeer XIV. — ON. hreindýri, f. hreinn ( = OE. hrān) reindeer + dýr DEER.

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T. F. HOAD. "reindeer." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "reindeer." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-reindeer.html

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reindeer

reindeer (caribou, Rangifer tarandus) See CERVIDAE.

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MICHAEL ALLABY. "reindeer." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MICHAEL ALLABY. "reindeer." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-reindeer.html

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reindeer

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"reindeer." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"reindeer." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-reindeer.html

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