Hippocamelus

Hippocamelus
The taruca
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Cervidae
Subfamily:	Capreolinae
Tribe:	Odocoileini
Genus:	Hippocamelus Leuckart 1816
Type species
Hippocamelus dubius Leuckart, 1816
Species
H. antisensis d'Orbigny 1834 H. bisulcus Molina 1782 †H. percultus †H. sulcatus

Hippocamelus is a genus of Cervidae, the deer family. It comprises two extant Andean and two fossil species. The living members are commonly known as the huemul (from the Mapuche language), and the taruca, also known as northern huemul.

Both species have a stocky, thick, and short-legged body. They live at high altitudes in the summer. Though Taruca spends their whole life cycle at these high altitudes, especially as populations get nearer the Ecuator line, Southern Huemul, moves down the mountains in the fall and spend the winter in sheltered forested valleys.

Areas with fresh water are preferred. They are herbivores that feed primarily on herbaceous plants and shrubs as well as sedges, lichens, and grasses found between the rocks on high peaks. They are active during daytime and have a lifespan of about ten years.^{[citation needed]}