Posts tagged as:

deer

Greater Mouse-Deer (Tragulus napu)

by J.R. Atkins on July 13, 2009

in Ungulates

Greater mouse-deer (click image to enlarge)

Greater mouse-deer (click image to enlarge)


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The greater mouse-deer is a teeny-tiny little thing, more or less rabbit-sized with legs the size of pencils. (I drew this one’s front legs too big.) The deer, also called chevrotains, live in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. They weigh about 11 pounds, and unusually for deer, they don’t have horns or antlers. They do have big ol’ upper canine teeth, though, that become tusk-like in males.

Here’s an alarming (to me) fact: female greater mouse-deer spend only about two hours between giving birth and becoming pregnant again! They’re pregnant their whole lives. This leads me to ask a question of my biologist readers: are the pregnancies of other mammals as uncomfortable as ours? I’m thinking of morning sickness, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, backache, swollen ankles, etc. Is this unique to humans, and if so, why?

A remarkable thing about greater mouse-deer (which are sometimes called “living fossils” because of how ancient they are as a species) is that they are amazingly good swimmers. Scientists have observed them fleeing predators—say, humans or mongooses—by jumping into the water and staying under for up to five minutes at a time. They’ll swim around for an hour to keep away from a threat. Another Asian mouse-deer species does the same thing, as does an African relative of the species. These observations have lent credence to the idea that whales evolved from deer-like mammals.

Supposedly, greater mouse-deer make good pets. I think they would look particularly cute paired up with an Italian greyhound.

BBC: “Aquatic deer and ancient whales”

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“Yesterday” (ahem…), we met the common palm civet, from whose droppings we get kopi luwak, coffee made from the seeds that pass through the civets’ digestive systems when they eat coffee berries. Whether this really creates some kind of gourmet delicacy or it’s actually a crazy scam to get people to spend lots of money on something they don’t need, we don’t know. Either way, people do seem to market and drink the stuff.

So how about we celebrate a couple other Coffee Achievers? (Boy, the ad linked there really makes me want to drink some coffee so I can be more like David Bowie and Heart. But I learned today that I’m especially susceptible to celebrity endorsements: shopping for eyeshadow, I rejected a set of exactly the colors I wanted because they had Andie MacDowell’s signature on them and almost bought completely wrong colors because Aishwarya Rai had endorsed them. Anyway…)

Muntjacs are also known as barking deer because of the strange vocalizations they make. (You can hear one barking here.) Native to Taiwan and China, the Reeves’s muntjac is also easily found in parts of England, as well, where it was introduced. And coffee beans that have passed through the muntjac’s system and been pooped out can be yours, supposedly, for exorbitant prices. I can’t find any for you to buy online, though. Maybe it was a hoax; maybe it’s just a weird fad that has worn out its appeal. But don’t worry: I’ll have one more Coffee Achiever for you “tomorrow”!

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Mammals of Iraq: Fallow Deer (Dama dama)

by J.R. Atkins on July 24, 2008

in Theme Weeks, Ungulates

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My dad requested, among other mammals (thanks, Dad!), a mule deer. Big old mule ears! She looks sleep-deprived. But they kind of always do to me.

Consecutive days of mammals: 8
Previous record: 11

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It’s the last day of North Carolina Week, time to bid adieu—for now—to our Carolinian mammal friends. Looking back at us as we wave goodbye is this white-tailed deer.

White-tailed deer live from Canada to Central America, including nearly all of the United States. They are, according to Animal Diversity Web, the jumpiest, most nervous of our deer, and they swish their tails when they’re anxious. They have scent glands on the bottoms of their feet and on their legs, and for them, the scents these glands produce are a form of communication. The deer are solitary much of the year, but they do form small groups in the winter.

Thanks for visiting some of North Carolina’s beautiful mammals with me at The Daily Mammal! Now on to the rest of the world…

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24 Hours: Elk (Wapiti)

by J.R. Atkins on December 23, 2007

in Mammalthons, Ungulates


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This is for Maleta. She gave me my choice, and I choose an elk! I know Maleta likes animals that can be found in New Mexico, and this is one.

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Now playing: Explosions In The Sky – Welcome, Ghosts
via FoxyTunes

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Chilean Huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus)

by J.R. Atkins on December 13, 2007

in Ungulates

Please consider contributing at least $25 to Defenders of Wildlife to get your own original Daily Mammal art! Read more about 24 Mammals in 24 Hours!


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This tough little deer is also called the south Andean deer or the guemal instead of huemul. There are only somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 of them left in the world, but this is actually an improvement over their numbers a decade or two ago. This huemul is one of Chile’s national symbols. The south Andean variety, like this fellow, lives only in Argentina and Chile. It’s exceptionally hardy, thriving in high altitudes and winter temperatures that can drop as low as -50ºC. That’s -58ºF!

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