Scientists are still debating the phylogeny of Cervus elaphus.
Nowak (1999) lists 7 subgenera and 10 species in the genus
Cervus and Ludt et al. (2004) mention at least 22 known
subspecies which occur in the Holarctic. However, some of these
subspecies have been recently contested by genetic studies. Ludt
et al. (2004) suggested in a study using mitochondrial DNA that
Western Red Deer and Eastern Red Deer comprise individual
species. He further subdivided the Western Red Deer into four
subgroups: Comparative analysis of behavior and acoustic
communication of Bukhara deer (Pereladova, 1985 -2009) allowed
to point out, that according to behavioral characteristics
Bukhara deer differs seriously from other Red deer subspecies.
It is closest to the group of Indian and Chinese deer and even
to the Sika deer (Cervus nippon). This is completely in accord
with the latest genetic studies (Ludt e.a., 2004) which states
that there is “a very high probability for the existence of two
different species of Red deer with thr