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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Alexis Powell" data-source="post: 3646775" data-attributes="member: 5327">In the past, you are right that the Red Deer and Wapiti were considered the same species because they can interbreed. However, with better understanding of the biology of speciation, that simple standard is no longer synonymous with defining or diagnosing species limits. In general, species are now understood as independent evolutionary lineages, and diagnosis is based on studies of genetic relationship and connectivity. Based on my quick review of the literature, it seems that studies find that Wapiti and Red Deer are closely related, but Wapiti are more closely related to some other old world deer species than they are to Red Deer, so they are now named as different species.--AP</blockquote>