What scientific classification identifies the Chinese water deer in the Cervidae family?
Answer
*Hydropotes inermis*.
The specific scientific binomial nomenclature assigned to the Chinese water deer, classifying it within the family Cervidae (the deer family), is *Hydropotes inermis*. This classification highlights its unique status, placing it among forms considered evolutionarily more primitive due to its retention of ancestral traits like prominent canine tusks and the complete absence of antlers in males. Studying this species using its scientific name allows researchers to properly contextualize its morphology against the backdrop of cervid evolution, recognizing it as a species that diverged before the widespread adoption of the classic antler structure became dominant throughout the rest of the family.
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