| Skull of Musk Deer. |
Before passing on to the true Cervidæ I must here place an animal commonly called a deer, and generally classed as such—the musk-deer according to some naturalists. There is no reason, save an insufficient one, that this creature should be so called and classed, there being much evidence in favour of its alliance to the antelopes. In the first place it has a gall bladder, which the Cervidæ have not, with the exception, according to Dr. Crisp, of the axis ('P. Z. S.'). On the other hand it has large canine tusks like the muntjacs, deerlets, and water-deer, and, as these are all aberrant forms of the true Cervidæ, there is no reason why the same character should not be developed in the antelopes. Its hair is more of the goat than the deer, and the total absence of horns removes a decided proof in favour of one or the other. The feet are more like some of the Bovidæ than the generality of deer, with the exception, perhaps, of Rangifer (the reindeer), the toes being very much cloven and capable of grasping the rocky ground on which it is found. A very eminent authority, however, Professor Flower, is in favour of placing the musk-deer with the Cervidæ, and he instances the absence of horns as in favour of this opinion, for in none of the Bovidæ are the males hornless. There are many other points also, such as the fawns being spotted, some intestinal peculiarities, and the molar and premolar teeth being strictly cervine, which strengthen him in his opinion. (See article on the structure and affinities of the musk-deer, 'P. Z. S.' 1879, p. 159.)
[GENUS MOSCHUS—THE MUSK DEER.]
Canines in both sexes, very long and slender in the male; no horns; feet much cloven, with large false hoofs that touch the ground; the medium metacarpals fused into a solid cannon bone; in the skull the intermaxillaries join the nasals; hinder part of tarsus hairy; fur thick, elastic, and brittle; muffle large; no eye, feet, or groin-pits; a large gland or præputial bag under the stomach in the males, which contains the secretion known in commerce as "musk."
[NO. 469. MOSCHUS MOSCHIFERUS.]
The Musk Deer.
NATIVE NAMES.—Kastura, Hindi; Rous, Roos, and Kasturé, in Kashmir; La-lawa, Thibetan; Rib-jo, Ladakhi; Bena in Kunawur (Jerdon); Mussuck-naba', Pahari (Kinloch).
HABITAT.—Throughout the Himalayas at elevations above 8000 feet, extending also through Central and Northern Asia as far as Siberia.
| Moschus moschiferus. |