Philippine Spotted Deer

Open encyclopedia reference

The Visayan spotted deer (Rusa alfredi), also known as the Visayan deer, the Philippine spotted deer or Prince Alfred's deer, is a small, endangered, primarily nocturnal species of deer found in the rainforests of the Visayan Islands of Panay and Negros. It once was found across other islands, such as Cebu, Guimaras, Leyte, Masbate, and Samar. It is one of three endemic deer species found in the Philippines, although it was not recognized as a separate species until 1983. An estimated 2,500 mature individuals survived worldwide in 1996, according to the IUCN; today's surviving wild number is uncertain. The diet of the deer, which consists of a variety of different types of grasses, leaves, and buds within the forest, is the primary indicator of its habitat. Since 1991, the range of the species has severely decreased and is now almost co-extensive with that of the Visayan warty pig. In April 2009, an expedition team of British and Filipino mountaineers and scientists discovered evidence of two separate groups of deer in the North Negros Natural Park.

Wikipedia contributors, Visayan spotted deer; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:11:40.372525+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Rusa alfredi (P. L. Sclater, 1870)

Name authority

(P. L. Sclater, 1870)

Common name

Philippine Spotted Deer

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Artiodactyla

Family

Cervidae

Genus

Rusa

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderArtiodactyla Owen, 1848
12. familyCervidae Goldfuss, 1820
13. subfamilyCervinae Goldfuss, 1820
14. tribeCervini Goldfuss, 1820
15. genusRusa C. H. Smith, 1827
16. speciesRusa alfredi (P. L. Sclater, 1870)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Rusa. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 50 records assigned to Cervidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=898212 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4TQSH. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.