Reindeer
Reindeer
Mammal
A cold-adapted deer species crucial to the ecology of the Arctic tundra.
💡 Fun Facts
- Their hooves change from soft and spongy in summer to hard and sharp in winter to cut through ice.
- They are the only deer species where both males and females grow antlers.
- Their noses warm the freezing air they breathe before it reaches their lungs.
Name Story
Rangifer tarandus
means “the snow-shoveller (from the name 'caribou')”
What does its name mean?
- Rangifer — an old name for a northern deer; its deeper origin is uncertainMedieval Latin, probably from a Scandinavian or Sámi word
- tarandus — an ancient name for a large deer of the far northGreek tarandos
- caribou — the snow-shoveller / the one who paws the snowMi'kmaq qalipu, via Canadian French
- reindeer — really means 'deer-deer'Old Norse hreinn (already 'reindeer') + English 'deer'
The name 'caribou' comes from a Mi'kmaq word meaning 'the snow-shoveller' — and that is just what it does, pawing away the winter snow with its wide hooves to reach the lichen beneath. Its other name, 'reindeer', funnily enough simply means 'deer-deer'.