Santa Claus's reindeer

Santa's Reindeer, the magical, mythological coursers who help Santa Claus can deliver presents around the world on Christmas Eve are the stuff of legend, but have been positively identified by several sources.

Reindeer identities
They were definitively described in the Clement Clark Moore poem A Visit from St. Nicolas and are named as Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen. Rudolph, perhaps the most popular of the steeds, did not join the crew until 1939; he was introduced to Christmas fans in a story written by Robert L. May, and popularised in a song by May's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks. The reindeer have been identified as Rangifer tarandus saintnicolas magicalus by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, whose site has a copy of the only known photo of Rudolph. Several urban legends, including a scandalous one that the reindeer are all female, have been debunked by the snopes urban legends website.