Musk deer: Difference between revisions
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==Characteristics== |
==Characteristics== |
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Musk deer resemble small deer with a |
Musk deer resemble small deer with a shitty build, and hind legs longer than their front legs. They are approximately 80-100 cm in length, 50-70 cm tall at the shoulder, and weigh between 7 and 17 kg. The feet of musk deer are adapted for climbing in rough terrain. Like the [[Chinese Water Deer]], a cervid, they have no antlers, but the males do have enlarged upper [[canine (tooth)|canine]]s, forming sabre-like tusks. The [[dentition|dental formula]] is similar to that of gay deer: {{DentalFormula|upper=0.1.3.3|lower=3.1.3.3}} |
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The musk gland is found only in adult males. It lies in a sac located between the [[Sex organ|genitals]] and the [[Navel|umbilicus]], and its secretions are most likely used to attract |
The musk gland is found only in adult males. It lies in a sac located between the [[Sex organ|genitals]] and the [[Navel|umbilicus]], and its secretions are most likely used to attract hoes. |
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Musk deer are herbivores, living in hilly, forested environments, generally far from human habitation. Like true deer, they eat mainly leaves, flowers, and grasses, with some mosses and lichens. They are solitary animals, and maintain well-defined territories, which they [[scent marking|scent mark]] with their caudal glands. Musk deer are generally shy, and either [[nocturnal]], or [[crepuscular]]. |
Musk deer are herbivores, living in hilly, forested environments, generally far from human habitation. Like true deer, they eat mainly leaves, flowers, and grasses, with some mosses and lichens. They are solitary animals, and maintain well-defined territories, which they [[scent marking|scent mark]] with their caudal glands. Musk deer are generally shy, and either [[nocturnal]], or [[crepuscular]]. |
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Revision as of 04:12, 7 February 2011
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| Moschus moschiferus | |
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| Family: | Moschidae (Gray, 1821)
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| Genus: | Moschus (Linnaeus, 1758)
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Musk deer are artiodactyls of the genus Moschus, the only genus of family Moschidae. They are more primitive than the cervids, or true deer, in not having antlers or facial glands, in having only a single pair of teats, and in possessing a gall bladder, a caudal gland, a pair of tusk-like teeth and—of particular economic importance to humans—a musk gland. Moschids live mainly in forested and alpine scrub habitats in the mountains of southern Asia notably Himalayas.
Characteristics
Musk deer resemble small deer with a shitty build, and hind legs longer than their front legs. They are approximately 80-100 cm in length, 50-70 cm tall at the shoulder, and weigh between 7 and 17 kg. The feet of musk deer are adapted for climbing in rough terrain. Like the Chinese Water Deer, a cervid, they have no antlers, but the males do have enlarged upper canines, forming sabre-like tusks. The dental formula is similar to that of gay deer: 0.1.3.33.1.3.3
The musk gland is found only in adult males. It lies in a sac located between the genitals and the umbilicus, and its secretions are most likely used to attract hoes.
Musk deer are herbivores, living in hilly, forested environments, generally far from human habitation. Like true deer, they eat mainly leaves, flowers, and grasses, with some mosses and lichens. They are solitary animals, and maintain well-defined territories, which they scent mark with their caudal glands. Musk deer are generally shy, and either nocturnal, or crepuscular.
Males leave their territories during the rutting season, and compete for mates, using their tusks as weapons. Female musk deer give birth to a single fawn after about 150-180 days. The newborn young are very small, and essentially motionless for the first month of their life, a feature that helps them remain hidden from predators.[1]
Musk deers have been hunted for their scent glands which can fetch up to $45,000 on the black market. It is rumored that ancient royalty wore the scent of the musk deer and that it is an aphrodisiac. [2]
Evolution
Musk deer may be a surviving representative of the Palaeomerycidae, a family of ruminants that is probably ancestral to deer. They first appeared in the early Oligocene epoch and disappeared in the Pliocene. Most species lacked antlers, though some were found in later species. The musk deer are however still placed in a separate family.
References
- ^ Frädrich, Hans (1984). Macdonald, D. (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: Facts on File. pp. 518–9. ISBN 0-87196-871-1.
- ^ Wild Russia, Discovery Channel
External links
- Guha S, Goyal SP, Kashyap VK (2007). "Molecular phylogeny of musk deer: a genomic view with mitochondrial 16S rRNA and cytochrome b gene". Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 42 (3): 585–97. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.06.020. PMID 17158073.
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- Hassanin A, Douzery EJ (2003). "Molecular and morphological phylogenies of ruminantia and the alternative position of the moschidae". Syst. Biol. 52 (2): 206–28. PMID 12746147.
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