[1] Deer species found within the genus Rucervus are characterized by a specific antler structure, where the basal ramification is often supplemented with an additional small prong, and the middle tine is never present.

[6][7] However, it has recently been place back into Rucervus by the American Society of Mammalogists[8] despite Eld's deer is not closely related to barasingha in genetics and antler structure.

[10] Rucervus is an ancient cervid lineage that--together with the genus Axis--represents the oldest evolutionary radiation of the subfamily Cervinae (plesiometacarpal deer).

[3] The European fossil forms of Rucervus are distinguished from the South Asian species by more compact crown part of the antler and by the frequent development of a small distal palmation as for instance in R. ardei and R. radulescui.

The late Early Pleistocene of Greece has yielded the remains of a giant species R. gigans that rivaled in size Irish elk Megaloceros giganteus, The giant Rucervus from Greece is distinguished by unusually for such a large animal long limbs and apparently is closely related to R. simplicidens and R. colberti from the Sivaliks.