82-482: Carcross Desert , located outside Carcross , Yukon , Canada, is a series of sand dunes . The Carcross Desert measures approximately 2.6 km (1.0 sq mi), or 259 ha (640 acres). Carcross Desert is commonly referred to as a desert, but is actually a series of northern sand dunes . The area's climate is too humid to be considered a true desert. The sand was formed during the last glacial period , when large glacial lakes formed and deposited silt . When
164-564: A Dene (Athapascan) group, call the Arctic caribou Ɂekwǫ̀ and the boreal woodland caribou tǫdzı . The Gwichʼin (also a Dene group) have over 24 distinct caribou-related words. Reindeer are also called tuttu by the Greenlandic Inuit and hreindýr , sometimes rein , by the Icelanders . The "glacial-interglacial cycles of the upper Pleistocene had a major influence on
246-459: A boreal forest hosting a species assemblage with no modern analogue. These are among the oldest DNA fragments ever sequenced. Carl Linnaeus in 1758 named the Eurasian tundra species Cervus tarandus , the genus Rangifer being credited to Smith, 1827. Rangifer has had a convoluted history because of the similarity in antler architecture (brow tines asymmetrical and often palmate, bez tines,
328-458: A Captain Craycott had brought a live pair from Greenland to England in 1738. He named it Capra groenlandicus , Greenland reindeer. Linnaeus, in the 12th edition of Systema naturae , gave grœnlandicus as a synonym for Cervus tarandus . Borowski disagreed (and again changed the spelling), saying Cervus grönlandicus was morphologically distinct from Eurasian tundra reindeer. Baird placed it under
410-450: A back tine sometimes branched, and branched at the distal end, often palmate). Because of individual variability, early taxonomists were unable to discern consistent patterns among populations, nor could they, examining collections in Europe, appreciate the difference in habitats and the differing function they imposed on antler architecture. Comparative morphometrics, the measurement of skulls,
492-778: A broad, high muzzle to increase the volume of the nasal cavity to warm and moisten the air before it enters the throat and lungs, bez tines set close to the brow tines, distinctive coat patterns, short legs and other adaptations for running long distances, and multiple behaviors suited to tundra, but not to forest (such as synchronized calving and aggregation during rutting and post-calving). As well, many genes, including those for vitamin D metabolism, fat metabolism , retinal development, circadian rhythm , and tolerance to cold temperatures, are found in tundra caribou that are lacking or rudimentary in forest types. For this reason, forest-adapted reindeer and caribou could not survive in tundra or polar deserts . The oldest undoubted Rangifer fossil
574-456: A change of 5.3% from its 2016 population of 301 . With a land area of 15.56 km (6.01 sq mi), it had a population density of 20.4/km (52.8/sq mi) in 2021. In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Carcross 4 had a population of 37 living in 16 of its 16 total private dwellings, a change of 5.7% from its 2016 population of 35 . With a land area of 0.58 km (0.22 sq mi), it had
656-439: A direct common ancestor , they cannot be Biological specificity#conspecific|conspecific. Similarly, woodland caribou diverged from the ancestors of Arctic caribou before modern barren-ground caribou had evolved, and were more likely related to extinct North American forest reindeer (see Evolution above). Lacking a direct shared ancestor, barren-ground and woodland caribou cannot be conspecific. Molecular data also revealed that
738-594: A forest subspecies, formerly included reindeer west of the Sea of Okhotsk which, however, are indistinguishable genetically from the Jano-Indigirka, East Siberian taiga and Chukotka populations of R. t. sibiricus . Siberian tundra reindeer herds have been in decline but are stable or increasing since 2000. Insular (island) reindeer, classified as the Novaya Zemlya reindeer ( R. t. pearsoni ) occupy several island groups:
820-428: A large scale in the world. Both wild and domestic reindeer have been an important source of food, clothing, and shelter for Arctic people from prehistorical times. They are still herded and hunted today. In some traditional Christmas legends, Santa Claus's reindeer pull a sleigh through the night sky to help Santa Claus deliver gifts to good children on Christmas Eve. Names follow international convention before
902-700: A mtDNA haplotype with Labrador caribou, in the North American lineage (i.e., woodland caribou). Røed et al. (1991) had noted: Among Baffin Island caribou the TFL2 allele was the most common allele (p=0.521), while this allele was absent, or present in very low frequencies, in other caribou populations (Table 1), including the Canadian barren-ground caribou from the Beverly herd. A large genetic difference between Baffin Island caribou and
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#1733085465891984-790: A new revision of the genus. Abbreviations: The table above includes, as per the recent revision, R. t. caboti (the Labrador caribou (the Eastern Migratory population DU4)), and R. t. terranovae (the Newfoundland caribou (the Newfoundland population DU5)), which molecular analyses have shown to be of North American (i.e., woodland caribou) lineage; and four mountain ecotypes now known to be of distant Beringia - Eurasia lineage (see Taxonomy above). The scientific name Tarandus rangifer buskensis Millais, 1915 (the Busk Mountains reindeer)
1066-541: A population density of 63.8/km (165.2/sq mi) in 2021. Carcross has a dry-summer subarctic climate ( Köppen climate classification : Dsc ), typical of this part of the Yukon. Summer days are mild to warm with crisp, cool nights due to low humidity during summers. Winters are cold by Canadian standards, but not so much by Yukon standards. Annual snowfall averages 50 inches (127 cm) with peak snowpack reaching 16 inches (40.6 cm) during March. Carcross has one of
1148-439: A predator-avoidance strategy, which requires large rutting aggregations. Males cannot defend a harem because, while he was busy fighting, they would disappear into the mass of the herd. Males therefore tend individual females; their fights are infrequent and brief. Their antlers are thin, beams round in cross-section, sweep back and then forward with a cluster of branches at the top; these are designed more for visual stimulation of
1230-537: A scathing review by Ian McTaggart-Cowan in 1962. Most authorities continued to consider all or most subspecies valid; some were quite distinct. In his chapter in the authoritative 2005 reference work Mammal Species of the World , referenced by the American Society of Mammalogists , English zoologist Peter Grubb agreed with Valerius Geist , a specialist on large mammals, that these subspecies were valid (i.e., before
1312-752: A very interesting history. Allen (1902) named it as a distinct species, R. granti , from the "western end of Alaska Peninsula , opposite Popoff Island " and noting that: Rangifer granti is a representative of the Barren Ground group of Caribou, which includes R. arcticus of the Arctic Coast and R. granlandicus of Greenland. It is not closely related to R. stonei of the Kenai Peninsula, from which it differs not only in its very much smaller size, but in important cranial characters and in coloration. ...The external and cranial differences between R. granti and
1394-776: A wildlife rehabilitation center in Canada, caribou were considered extirpated from the contiguous United States . The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) classified both the Southern Mountain population DU9 ( R. t. montanus ) and the Central Mountain population DU8 ( R. t. fortidens ) as Endangered and the Northern Mountain population DU7 ( R. t. osborni ) as Threatened. Some species and subspecies are rare and three subspecies have already become extinct:
1476-619: Is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution , native to Arctic , subarctic , tundra , boreal , and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only representative of the genus Rangifer . More recent studies suggest the splitting of reindeer and caribou into six distinct species over their range. Reindeer occur in both migratory and sedentary populations, and their herd sizes vary greatly in different regions. The tundra subspecies are adapted for extreme cold, and some are adapted for long-distance migration. Reindeer vary greatly in size and color from
1558-820: Is an unincorporated community in Yukon , Canada, on Bennett Lake and Nares Lake . It is home to the Carcross/Tagish First Nation . It is 74 km (46 mi) south-southeast by the Alaska Highway and the Klondike Highway from Whitehorse . The south end of the Tagish Road is in Carcross. Carcross is also on the White Pass and Yukon Route railway. Carcross is mainly known for its world class mountain biking on
1640-521: Is from Omsk , Russia, dated to 2.1-1.8 Ma. The oldest North American Rangifer fossil is from the Yukon , 1.6 million years before present (BP). A fossil skull fragment from Süßenborn, Germany, R. arcticus stadelmanni , (which is probably misnamed) with "rather thin and cylinder-shaped" antlers, dates to the Middle Pleistocene (Günz) Period, 680,000-620,000 BP. Rangifer fossils become increasingly frequent in circumpolar deposits beginning with
1722-475: Is necessary with R. montanus or with any of the woodland forms." Osgood and Murie (1935), agreeing with granti ' s close relationship with the barren-ground caribou, brought it under R. arcticus as a subspecies, R. t. granti . Anderson (1946) and Banfield (1961), based on statistical analysis of cranial, dental and other characters, agreed. But Banfield (1961) also synonymized Alaska's large R. stonei with other mountain caribou of British Columbia and
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#17330854658911804-664: Is often seen as more objective than description of differences of color or antler patterns, but actually confounds genetic variance with epistatic and statistical variance as well as compounded environment-based variance. For example, woodland caribou males, rutting in boreal forest where only a few females can be found, collect harems and defend them against other males, for which they have short, straight, strong, much-branched antlers, beams flattened in cross-section, designed for combat — and not too large, so as not to impede them in forested winter ranges. By contrast, modern tundra caribou (see Evolution above) have synchronized calving as
1886-612: Is significantly drier than the surrounding region, receiving less than 50 cm (20 in) of precipitation per year. This is due in part to a rain shadow effect caused by surrounding mountains. As a result, several rare species of plant life have taken hold in the comparatively arid conditions. Carex sabulosa , the Baikal sedge, is only known to exist in four other sites in North America, mainly existing in Asia. Yukon lupine , also unusual for
1968-573: The Early Pleistocene (2 million years ago) Kap Kobenhavn Formation of northern Greenland identified preserved DNA fragments of Rangifer , identified as basal but potentially ancestral to modern reindeer. This suggests that reindeer have inhabited Greenland since at least the Early Pleistocene. Around this time, northern Greenland was 11–19 °C (20–34 °F) warmer than the Holocene , with
2050-716: The Last Glacial Period until the present day. In the non-forested mountains of central Norway, such as Jotunheimen , it is still possible to find remains of stone-built trapping pits , guiding fences and bow rests, built especially for hunting reindeer. These can, with some certainty, be dated to the Migration Period , although it is not unlikely that they have been in use since the Stone Age . Cave paintings by ancient Europeans include both tundra and forest types of reindeer. A 2022 study of ancient environmental DNA from
2132-783: The Late Miocene , 8.7–9.6 million years ago. Rangifer "evolved as a mountain deer, ...exploiting the subalpine and alpine meadows...". Rangifer originated in the Late Pliocene and diversified in the Early Pleistocene , a 2+ million-year period of multiple glacier advances and retreats. Several named Rangifer fossils in Eurasia and North America predate the evolution of modern tundra reindeer. Archaeologists distinguish "modern" tundra reindeer and barren-ground caribou from primitive forms – living and extinct – that did not have adaptations to extreme cold and to long-distance migration. They include
2214-561: The Mi'kmaq qalipu , meaning "snow shoveler", and refers to its habit of pawing through the snow for food. Because of its importance to many cultures, Rangifer and some of its species and subspecies have names in many languages. Inuvialuit of the western Canadian Arctic and Inuit of the eastern Canadian Arctic, who speak different dialects of the Inuit languages , both call the barren-ground caribou tuktu . The Wekʼèezhìi ( Tłı̨chǫ ) people,
2296-642: The Novaya Zemlya Archipelago (about 5,000 animals at last count, but most of these are either domestic reindeer or domestic-wild hybrids), the New Siberia Archipelago (about 10,000 to 15,000), and Wrangel Island (200 to 300 feral domestic reindeer). What was once the second largest herd is the migratory Labrador caribou ( R. t. caboti ) George River herd in Canada, with former variations between 28,000 and 385,000. As of January 2018, there are fewer than 9,000 animals estimated to be left in
2378-655: The Queen Charlotte Islands caribou ( R. t. dawsoni ) from western Canada, the Sakhalin reindeer ( R. t. setoni ) from Sakhalin and the East Greenland caribou from eastern Greenland, although some authorities believe that the latter, R. t. eogroenlandicus Degerbøl, 1957, is a junior synonym of the Peary caribou. Historically, the range of the sedentary boreal woodland caribou covered more than half of Canada and into
2460-579: The Riss glaciations , the second youngest of the Pleistocene Epoch, roughly 300,000–130,000 BP. By the 4-Würm period (110,000–70,000 to 12,000–10,000 BP), its European range was extensive, supplying a major food source for prehistoric Europeans. North American fossils outside of Beringia that predate the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) are of Rancholabrean age (240,000–11,000 years BP) and occur along
2542-853: The Scandinavian mountains and R. t. sibiricus across Siberia) and east ( R. t. arcticus in the North American Barrenlands) when rising seas isolated them. Likewise in North America, DNA analysis shows that woodland caribou ( R. caribou ) diverged from primitive ancestors of tundra / barren-ground caribou not during the LGM, 26,000–19,000 years ago, as previously assumed, but in the Middle Pleistocene around 357,000 years ago. At that time, modern tundra caribou had not even evolved. Woodland caribou are likely more related to extinct North American forest caribou than to barren-ground caribou. For example,
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2624-470: The Sámi word raingo . Carl Linnaeus chose the word tarandus as the specific epithet, making reference to Ulisse Aldrovandi 's Quadrupedum omnium bisulcorum historia fol. 859–863, Cap. 30: De Tarando (1621). However, Aldrovandi and Conrad Gessner thought that rangifer and tarandus were two separate animals. In any case, the tarandos name goes back to Aristotle and Theophrastus . The use of
2706-830: The polar desert of the high Arctic Archipelago and Grant's caribou ( R. t. granti also called the Porcupine caribou ) lives in the western end of the Alaska Peninsula and the adjacent islands; the other four subspecies, Osborn's caribou ( R. t. osborni ), Stone's caribou ( R. t. stonei ), the Rocky Mountain caribou ( R. t. fortidens ) and the Selkirk Mountains caribou ( R. t. montanus ) are all montane . The extinct insular Queen Charlotte Islands caribou ( R. t. dawsoni ), lived on Graham Island in Haida Gwaii (formerly known as
2788-510: The tundra , taiga (boreal forest) and south through the Canadian Rocky Mountains . Of the eight subspecies classified by Harding (2022) into the Arctic caribou ( R. arcticus ), the migratory mainland barren-ground caribou of Arctic Alaska and Northern Canada ( R. t. arcticus ), summer in tundra and winter in taiga, a transitional forest zone between boreal forest and tundra; the nomadic Peary caribou ( R. t. pearyi ) lives in
2870-483: The Arctic caribou. Siberian tundra reindeer herds are also in decline, and Rangifer as a whole is considered to be Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Charles Hamilton Smith is credited with the name Rangifer for the reindeer genus, which Albertus Magnus used in his De animalibus , fol. Liber 22, Cap. 268: "Dicitur Rangyfer quasi ramifer". This word may go back to
2952-732: The Beverly herd was also indicated by eight alleles found in the Beverly herd which were absent from the Baffin Island samples. Jenkins et al. (2018) also reported genetic distinctiveness of Baffin Island caribou from all other barren-ground caribou; its genetic signature was not found on the mainland or on other islands; nor were Beverly herd (the nearest mainly barren-ground caribou) alleles present in Baffin Island caribou, evidence of reproductive isolation. These advances in Rangifer genetics were brought together with previous morphological-based descriptions, ecology, behavior and archaeology to propose
3034-632: The Eurasian reindeer radiation dates to the large Riss glaciation (347,000 to 128,000 years ago), based on the Norwegian-Svalbard split 225,000 years ago. Finnish forest reindeer ( R. t. fennicus ) likely evolved from Cervus [Rangifer] geuttardi Desmarest, 1822, a reindeer that adapted to forest habitats in Eastern Europe as forests expanded during an interglacial period before the LGM (the Würmian or Weichsel glaciation );. The fossil species geuttardi
3116-577: The George River herd, as reported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . The New York Times reported in April 2018 of the disappearance of the only herd of southern mountain woodland caribou in the contiguous United States , with an expert calling it "functionally extinct" after the herd's size dwindled to a mere three animals. After the last individual, a female, was translocated to
3198-514: The Greenland caribou ( R. t. groenlandicus ) and the Svalbard reindeer ( R. t. platyrhynchus ), although not closely related to each other, were the most genetically divergent among Rangifer clades; that modern (see Evolution above) Eurasian tundra reindeer ( R. t. tarandus and R. t. sibiricus ) and North American barren-ground caribou ( R. t. arcticus ), although sharing ancestry, were separable at
3280-527: The Mammals of the World Vol. 2: Hoofed Mammals . Most Russian authors also recognized R. t. angustirostris , a forest reindeer from east of Lake Baikal . However, since 1991, many genetic studies have revealed deep divergence between modern tundra reindeer and woodland caribou. Geist (2007) and others continued arguing that the woodland caribou was incorrectly classified, noting that "true woodland caribou,
3362-497: The Queen Charlotte Islands). The boreal woodland caribou ( R. t. caribou ), lives in the boreal forest of northeastern Canada: the Labrador or Ungava caribou of northern Quebec and northern Labrador ( R. t. caboti ), and the Newfoundland caribou of Newfoundland ( R. t. terranovae ) have been found to be genetically in the woodland caribou lineage. In Eurasia, both wild and domestic reindeer are distributed across
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3444-573: The Reindeer and Caribou, Genus Rangifer (1961), eliminated R. t. caboti (the Labrador caribou), R. t. osborni (Osborn's caribou — from British Columbia ) and R. t. terranovae (the Newfoundland caribou) as invalid and included only barren-ground caribou , renamed as R. t. groenlandicus (formerly R. arcticus ) and woodland caribou as R. t. caribou . However, Banfield made multiple errors, eliciting
3526-803: The Siberian forest reindeer ( R. t. valentinae , formerly called the Busk Mountains reindeer ( R. t. buskensis ) by American taxonomists) occupies the Altai and Ural Mountains . Male ("bull") and female ("cow") reindeer can grow antlers annually, although the proportion of females that grow antlers varies greatly between populations. Antlers are typically larger on males. Antler architecture varies by species and subspecies and, together with pelage differences, can often be used to distinguish between species and subspecies (see illustrations in Geist, 1991 and Geist, 1998). About 25,000 mountain reindeer ( R. t. tarandus ) still live in
3608-589: The White Pass railway also resumed service to Carcross railway station . Just north of the town is the Carcross Desert , often referred to as the "world's smallest desert." There are two small airports located in the area, Carcross Airport is adjacent to the town and Carcross Water Aerodrome located on Tagish Lake . Alaska cruises stopping in Skagway will offer day tours to Carcross. The day tours offer stops at
3690-509: The Yukon as invalid subspecies of woodland caribou, then R. t. caribou . This left the small, migratory barren-ground caribou of Alaska and the Yukon, including the Porcupine caribou herd, without a name, which Banfield rectified in his 1974 Mammals of Canada by extending to them the name " granti ". The late Valerius Geist (1998), in the only error in his whole illustrious career, re-analyzed Banfield's data with additional specimens found in an unpublished report he cites as "Skal, 1982", but
3772-594: The Yukon sign, the Caribou Crossing Wildlife Museum, Dog Sledding Zoo and the actual town of Carcross. Carcross lies on the popular Klondike Highway . The city is served by Carcross Airport , which has no scheduled commercial flights. The closest Canadian airport with large airline service is Whitehorse Airport , which has domestic airline service as well as flights to Europe and the United States . Tourist buses serving cruise ships passengers at
3854-415: The early taxonomists. Similarly, working on museum collections where skins were often faded and in poor states of preservation, early taxonomists could not readily perceive differences in coat patterns that are consistent within a subspecies, but variable among them. Geist calls these "nuptial" characteristics: sexually selected characters that are highly conserved and diagnostic among subspecies. Towards
3936-702: The end of the 19th century, national museums began sending out biological exploration expeditions and collections accumulated. Taxonomists, usually working for the museums, began naming subspecies more rigorously, based on statistical differences in detailed cranial, dental and skeletal measurements than antlers and pelage, supplemented by better knowledge of differences in ecology and behavior. From 1898 to 1937, mammalogists named 12 new species (other than barren-ground and woodland, which had been named earlier) of caribou in Canada and Alaska, and three new species and nine new subspecies in Eurasia, each properly described according to
4018-589: The evolution" of Rangifer species and other Arctic and sub-Arctic species. Isolation of tundra-adapted species Rangifer in Last Glacial Maximum refugia during the last glacial – the Wisconsin glaciation in North America and the Weichselian glaciation in Eurasia – shaped "intraspecific genetic variability " particularly between the North American and Eurasian parts of the Arctic . Reindeer / caribou ( Rangifer ) are in
4100-441: The evolving rules of zoological nomenclature, with type localities designated and type specimens deposited in museums (see table in Species and subspecies below). In the mid-20th century, as definitions of "species" evolved, mammalogists in Europe and North America made all Rangifer species conspecific with R. tarandus , and synonymized most of the subspecies. Alexander William Francis Banfield 's often-cited A Revision of
4182-407: The extinct caribou Torontoceros [Rangifer] hypogaeus , had features (robust and short pedicles, smooth antler surface, and high position of second tine) that relate it to forest caribou. Humans started hunting reindeer in both the Mesolithic and Neolithic Periods, and humans are today the main predator in many areas. Norway and Greenland have unbroken traditions of hunting wild reindeer from
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#17330854658914264-540: The females. Their bez tines are set low, just above the brow tine, which is vertically flattened to protect the eyes while the buck "threshes" low brush, a courtship display. The low bez tines help the wide flat brow tines dig craters in the hard-packed tundra snow for forage, for which reason brow tines are often called "shovels" in North America and "ice tines" in Europe. The differences in antler architecture reflect fundamental differences in ecology and behavior, and in turn deep divisions in ancestry that were not apparent to
4346-717: The four western Canadian montane ecotypes are not woodland caribou: they share a common ancestor with modern barren-ground caribou / tundra reindeer, but distantly, having diverged > 60,000 years ago — before the modern ecotypes had evolved their cold- and darkness-adapted physiologies and mass-migration and aggregation behaviors (see Evolution above). Before Banfield (1961), taxonomists using cranial, dental and skeletal measurements had unequivocally allied these western montane ecotypes with barren-ground caribou, naming them (as in Osgood 1909 Murie, 1935 and Anderson 1946, among others) R. t. stonei , R. t. montanus , R. t. fortidens and R. t. osborni , respectively, and this phylogeny
4428-560: The fringes of the Rocky Mountain and Laurentide ice sheets as far south as northern Alabama ; and in Sangamonian deposits (~100,000 years BP) from western Canada. A R. t. pearyi -sized caribou occupied Greenland before and after the LGM and persisted in a relict enclave in northeastern Greenland until it went extinct about 1900 (see discussion of R. t. eogroenlandicus below). Archaeological excavations showed that larger barren-ground-sized caribou appeared in western Greenland about 4,000 years ago. The late Valerius Geist (1998) dates
4510-479: The genus Rangifer as R. grœnlandicus . It went back and forth as a full species or subspecies of the barren-ground caribou ( R. arcticus ) or a subspecies of the tundra reindeer ( R. tarandus ), but always as the Greenland reindeer / caribou. Taxonomists consistently documented morphological differences between Greenland and other caribou / reindeer in cranial measurements, dentition, antler architecture, etc. Then Banfield (1961) in his famously flawed revision, gave
4592-421: The gold fields of Dawson City . Caribou Crossing was also a station for the Royal Mail and the Dominion Telegraph Line, and it served as a communications point on the Yukon River . In 1904, Caribou Crossing was renamed Carcross as a result of some mail mix-ups with the Cariboo Regional District in nearby British Columbia . Silver mining was promoted nearby in Conrad, Yukon in the early 1900s, but there
4674-445: The lakes dried, the dunes were left behind. Today, sand comes mainly from nearby Bennett Lake , carried by wind. The dunes contain a wide variety of plants, including unusual species such as Baikal sedge ( Carex sabulosa ) and Yukon lupine , among others. The Government of Yukon has made efforts to protect Carcross Desert in 1992, but failed due to opposition from locals who use the dunes for recreational purposes. Carcross Desert
4756-416: The larger caribou that appeared in Greenland 4,000 years ago originated from Baffin Island (itself unique; see Taxonomy above), a reconstruction of LGM glacial retreat and caribou advance (Yannic et al. 2013) shows colonization by NAL lineage caribou more likely. Their PCA and tree diagrams show Greenland caribou clustering outside of the Beringian-Eurasian lineage. The scientific name R. t. granti has
4838-513: The lowest amounts of precipitation days out of anywhere in Canada , only having 76 precipitation days, with the rainiest month September only averaging 9 days with precipitation, and the driest month April only averaging 2 days with precipitation. Carcross relies on tourism to support the local economy. It lies on the Klondike Highway between Whitehorse and Skagway, Alaska and offers a variety of historic attractions and outdoor activities. Popular with road traffic including tour buses and RVs, in 2007
4920-586: The mountains of Norway, notably in Hardangervidda . In Sweden there are approximately 250,000 reindeer in herds managed by Sámi villages. Russia manages 19 herds of Siberian tundra reindeer ( R. t. sibiricus ) that total about 940,000. The Taimyr herd of Siberian tundra reindeer is the largest wild reindeer herd in the world, varying between 400,000 and 1,000,000; it is a metapopulation consisting of several subpopulations — some of which are phenotypically different — with different migration routes and calving areas. The Kamchatkan reindeer ( R. t. phylarchus ),
5002-550: The name groenlandicus to all the barren-ground caribou in North America, Greenland included, because groenlandicus pre-dates Richardson's R. arctus . However, because genetic data shows the Greenland caribou to be the most distantly related of any caribou to all the others (genetic distance, FST = 44%, whereas most cervid (deer family) species have a genetic distance of 2% to 5% )--as well as behavioral and morphological differences—a recent revision returned it to species status as R. groenlandicus . Although it has been assumed that
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#17330854658915084-425: The near-by Montana Mountain , and for the nearby Carcross Desert , often referred to as the "world's smallest desert." Caribou Crossing was a fishing and hunting camp for Inland Tlingit and Tagish people. 4,500-year-old artifacts from First Nations people living in the area have been found in the region. Originally known as Naataase Heen ( Tagish for ‘water running through the narrows’), Caribou Crossing
5166-570: The northern states of the contiguous United States from Maine to Washington . Boreal woodland caribou have disappeared from most of their original southern range and were designated as Threatened in 2002 by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). Environment and Climate Change Canada reported in 2011 that there were approximately 34,000 boreal woodland caribou in 51 ranges remaining in Canada (Environment Canada, 2011b), although those numbers included montane populations classified by Harding (2022) into subspecies of
5248-475: The port of Skagway, Alaska, USA make day trips to Carcross. The White Pass and Yukon Route currently terminates in Carcross, as tracks further north to Whitehorse have not been restored. In 2016, the Yukon Arts Centre opened an art gallery called the Art House and storefront in Carcross, in partnership with the Tagish First Nation. [1] Reindeer See text , traditionally 1, but possibly up to 6 The reindeer or caribou ( Rangifer tarandus )
5330-415: The previously named subspecies distributions, without naming them as such, plus some ecotypes. Ecotypes are not phylogenetically based and cannot substitute for taxonomy. Meanwhile, genetic data continued to accumulate, revealing sufficiently deep divisions to easily separate Rangifer back into six previously named species and to resurrect several previously named subspecies. Molecular data showed that
5412-410: The recent revision (see Reindeer#Taxonomy below). Reindeer / caribou ( Rangifer ) vary in size from the smallest, the Svalbard reindeer ( R. ( t. ) platyrhynchus ), to the largest, Osborn's caribou ( R. t. osborni ). They also vary in coat color and antler architecture. The North American range of caribou extends from Alaska through the Yukon , the Northwest Territories and Nunavut throughout
5494-428: The recent revision): In North America, R. t. caboti , R. t. caribou , R. t. dawsoni , R. t. groenlandicus , R. t. osborni , R. t. pearyi , and R. t. terranovae ; and in Eurasia, R. t. tarandus , R. t. buskensis (called R. t. valentinae in Europe; see below), R. t. phylarchus , R. t. pearsoni , R. t. sibiricus and R. t. platyrhynchus . These subspecies were retained in the 2011 replacement work Handbook of
5576-433: The smallest, the Svalbard reindeer ( R. ( t. ) platyrhynchus ), to the largest, Osborn's caribou ( R. t. osborni ). Although reindeer are quite numerous, some species and subspecies are in decline and considered vulnerable . They are unique among deer (Cervidae) in that females may have antlers , although the prevalence of antlered females varies by subspecies. Reindeer are the only successfully semi-domesticated deer on
5658-441: The subfamily Odocoileinae , along with roe deer ( Capreolus ), Eurasian elk / moose ( Alces ), and water deer ( Hydropotes ). These antlered cervids split from the horned ruminants Bos (cattle and yaks), Ovis (sheep) and Capra (goats) about 36 million years ago. The Eurasian clade of Odocoileinae (Capreolini, Hydropotini and Alcini) split from the New World tribes of Capreolinae ( Odocoileini and Rangiferini) in
5740-430: The subspecies level; that Finnish forest reindeer ( R. t. fennicus ) clustered well apart from both wild and domestic tundra reindeer and that boreal woodland caribou ( R. t. caribou ) were separable from all others. Meanwhile, archaeological evidence was accumulating that Eurasian forest reindeer descended from an extinct forest-adapted reindeer and not from tundra reindeer (see Evolution above); since they do not share
5822-495: The surroundings, "grows like a weed." While the vegetation in the area currently locks much of the dune system in place, a large event such as a forest fire could easily clear out the vegetation and return the dunes to an active state. The dunes are used by locals for sandboarding . Tourist groups also use the area for off-road scenic tours, which is allowed on the fine-grained dunes. Other summer activities include beach volleyball, hiking, skydiving, and all-terrain vehicles . In
5904-612: The terms reindeer and caribou for essentially the same animal can cause confusion, but the ICUN clearly delineates the issue: "Reindeer is the European name for the species of Rangifer, while in North America, Rangifer species are known as Caribou." The word reindeer is an anglicized version of the Old Norse words hreinn ("reindeer") and dýr ("animal") and has nothing to do with reins. The word caribou comes through French, from
5986-490: The tundra and into the taiga. Eurasian mountain reindeer ( R. t. tarandus ) are close to North American caribou genetically and visually, but with sufficient differences to warrant division into two species. The unique, insular Svalbard reindeer inhabits the Svalbard Archipelago . The Finnish forest reindeer ( R. t. fennicus ) is spottily distributed in the coniferous forest zones from Finland to east of Lake Baikal :
6068-947: The uniformly dark, small-maned type with the frontally emphasized, flat-beamed antlers", is "scattered thinly along the southern rim of North American caribou distribution". He affirms that the "true woodland caribou is very rare, in very great difficulties and requires the most urgent of attention." In 2011, noting that the former classifications of Rangifer tarandus , either with prevailing taxonomy on subspecies, designations based on ecotypes , or natural population groupings, failed to capture "the variability of caribou across their range in Canada" needed for effective subspecies conservation and management, COSEWIC developed Designatable Unit (DU) attribution, an adaptation of "evolutionary significant units". The 12 designatable units for caribou in Canada (that is, excluding Alaska and Greenland) based on ecology, behavior and, importantly, genetics (but excluding morphology and archaeology) essentially followed
6150-486: The various forms of the Woodland Caribou are so great in almost every respect that no detailed comparison is necessary. ...According to Mr. Stone, Rangifer granti inhabits the " barren land of Alaska Peninsula, ranging well up into the mountains in summer, but descending to the lower levels in winter, generally feeding on the low flat lands near the coast and in the foothills...As regards cranial characters no comparison
6232-548: The winter, the area is used mainly for cross-country skiing and snowboarding . The nearby White Pass and Yukon Route is a popular tourist attraction, bringing many tourists each year to the Carcross area. Orienteering competitions are held on a map bearing name Carcross Desert which includes parts of the landmark. 60°11′14″N 134°41′41″W / 60.18722°N 134.69472°W / 60.18722; -134.69472 Carcross Carcross , originally known as Caribou Crossing , ( Tlingit : Nadashaa Héeni )
6314-456: Was "not able to find diagnostic features that could segregate this form from the western barren ground type." But Skal 1982 had included specimens from the eastern end of the Alaska Peninsula and the Kenai Peninsula , the range of the larger Stone's caribou. Later, geneticists comparing barren-ground caribou of Alaska with those of mainland Canada found little difference and they all became
6396-901: Was confirmed by genetic analysis. DNA also revealed three unnamed clades that, based on genetic distance, genetic divergence and shared vs. private haplotypes and alleles , together with ecological and behavioral differences, may justify separation at the subspecies level: the Atlantic- Gaspésie caribou (COSEWIC DU11), an eastern montane ecotype of the boreal woodland caribou, and the Baffin Island caribou. Neither one of these clades has yet been formally described or named. Jenkins et al. (2012) said that "[Baffin Island] caribou are unique compared to other Barrenground herds, as they do not overwinter in forested habitat, nor do all caribou undertake long seasonal migrations to calving areas." It also shares
6478-457: Was later replaced by R. constantini , which was adapted for grasslands, in a second immigration 19,000–20,000 years ago when the LGM turned its forest habitats into tundra, while fennicus survived in isolation in southwestern Europe. R. constantini was then replaced by modern tundra / barren-ground caribou adapted to extreme cold, probably in Beringia, before dispersing west ( R. t. tarandus in
6560-439: Was little to be found and mining efforts soon ended. Mineral exploration continues today, but tourism is far more important to the economy of the community. In 2016, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge visited Carcross for a day trip. In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Carcross had a population of 317 living in 168 of its 229 total private dwellings,
6642-536: Was named after the migration of huge numbers of caribou across the natural land bridge between Lake Bennett and Nares Lake. That caribou herd was decimated during the Klondike Gold Rush , but a recovery program raised the number of animals to about 450. The modern village began in 1896, during the Klondike Gold Rush. At the time, Caribou Crossing was a popular stopping place for prospectors going to and from
6724-514: Was selected as the senior synonym to R. t. valentinae Flerov, 1933, in Mammal Species of the World but Russian authors do not recognize Millais and Millais' articles in a hunting travelogue, The Gun at Home and Abroad , seem short of a taxonomic authority. The scientific name groenlandicus is fraught with problems. Edwards (1743) illustrated and claimed to have seen a male specimen ("head of perfect horns...") from Greenland and said that
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