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No. A mule is a cross between a horse and a donkey and belongs to the family Eqinae and genus Equus. Deer, which belong to the family Cervidae, are very different from horses and donkeys. Deer fall under the Order Artiodactyla which cattle, antelope, buffalo and giraffes belong in. Horses and donkey crosses, on the other hand, belong in the Order Perissodactyla. However, deer and mules both belong in the Infraclass Eutheria, which puts them very distantly related, with a related ancestor going back millions and millions of years ago.

Not only do deer not look like a horse or donkey (certainly for those people who can actually distinguish the difference between a horse and a deer!), but their digestive systems are quite different. Deer happen to be ruminants, with four chambers to their stomach, whereas horses and donkeys are non-ruminants with only a simple stomach. This is evidence in itself that tells that mules and deer are not related.

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12y ago

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