Odocoileus hemionus × virginianus is a hybrid of two common North American deer species, the mule deer and the white-tailed deer.[1] This hybridization is one-way; because of different mating strategies in these species, a male white-tailed deer is much more likely to copulate with a female mule deer than is the reverse and when an offspring is produced, the child of male white-tailed deer is generally stronger and healthier than one of male mule deer.[2] Nonetheless, hybrids are not likely to survive past their first year, being more vulnerable to predation than non-hybrids of either species. This one-way hybridization a contributing factor of declining mule deer populations.[2]
^ abAustin, Dennis D. (2010). "Mule Deer Relationships with Livestock, Elk, and White-tailed Deer". Mule Deer. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press. pp. 63–75. ISBN978-0-87421-742-1. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
^Combe, Fraser J.; Jaster, Levi; Ricketts, Andrew; Haukos, David; Hope, Andrew G. (January 2022). "Population genomics of free‐ranging Great Plains white‐tailed and mule deer reflects a long history of interspecific hybridization". Evolutionary Applications. 15 (1): 111–131. doi:10.1111/eva.13330.
^Russell, Ty; Cullingham, Catherine; Ball, Mark; Pybus, Margo; Coltman, David (July 2021). "Extent and direction of introgressive hybridization of mule and white‐tailed deer in western Canada". Evolutionary Applications. 14 (7): 1914–1925. doi:10.1111/eva.13250.
^Carr, S M; Ballinger, S W; Derr, J N; Blankenship, L H; Bickham, J W (December 1986). "Mitochondrial DNA analysis of hybridization between sympatric white-tailed deer and mule deer in west Texas". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 83 (24): 9576–9580. doi:10.1073/pnas.83.24.9576.