New World Deer

The Capreolinae (synonym Odocoileinae Pocock, 1923) are a subfamily of deer. The scientific name derives from its type genus, Capreolus. Alternatively, they are known as the telemetacarpal deer, due to their bone structure being different from the plesiometacarpal deer subfamily Cervinae. The telemetacarpal deer maintain their distal lateral metacarpals, while the plesiometacarpal deer maintain only their proximal lateral metacarpals.

The Capreolinae are believed to have originated in the Middle Miocene, between 7.7 and 11.5 million years ago, in Central Asia.

The subfamily is sometimes called New World deer in English, though it includes reindeer, elk, water deer and roe deer, all of which live in Eurasia in the Old World.