Peter120: updated page and added references

2025-12-12T08:50:50Z

updated page and added references

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article

2023-08-27T13:42:46Z

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{{short description|Genus of deer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Muntjac
| fossil_range = [[Miocene]] to present
| image = Muntiacus muntjak 50960281.jpg
| image_caption = Adult female and offspring (''[[Muntiacus muntjak]]''), in Malaysia, September 2012
| taxon = Muntiacus
| authority = [[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Rafinesque]], 1815
| type_species = ''[[Southern red muntjac|Cervus muntjak]]''
| type_species_authority = [[Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann|Zimmerman]], 1780
| subdivision_ranks =
| subdivision =
| range_map = Range of Muntjac species, including ones introduced into Wales and England.png
| range_map_caption = Geographic range
}}

'''Muntjacs''' ({{IPAc-en|m|ʌ|n|t|dʒ|ae|k}} {{respell|MUNT|jak}}),<ref>{{cite book|last=Wells|first=John|author-link=John C. Wells|title=Longman Pronunciation Dictionary |publisher=Pearson Longman |edition=3rd |date=3 April 2008 |isbn=978-1-4058-8118-0}}</ref> also known as the '''barking deer'''<ref name="NewScientist1959" /> or '''rib-faced deer''',<ref name="NewScientist1959">{{Cite magazine |title=Notes and comments – The alien deer of the Chilterns |date=1959-04-09 |magazine=[[New Scientist]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kD2vCBb8xwIC&dq=%22rib-faced%20deer%22&pg=PA784 |page=784}} (URL is Google Books)</ref> are small [[deer]] of the genus '''''Muntiacus''''' native to [[South Asia]] and [[Southeast Asia]]. Muntjacs are thought to have begun appearing 15–35 million years ago, with remains found in [[Miocene]] deposits in France, Germany<ref>{{Cite EB9 |wstitle=Muntjak |volume=17}}</ref> and Poland.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Teresa |last1=Czyżewska |first2=Krzysztof |last2=Stefaniak |title=''Euprox furcatus'' (Hensel, 1859) (''Cervidae, Mammalia'') from Przeworno (Middle Miocene, Lower Silesia, Poland) |journal=Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia |volume=37 |issue=1 |date=December 1994 |pages=55–74 |url=http://www.isez.pan.krakow.pl/journals/azc/pdf/azc_v/37(1)/37(1)_05.pdf }}</ref> Most are listed as [[least-concern species]] or Data Deficient by the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] (IUCN), although others such as the [[black muntjac]], [[Bornean yellow muntjac]], and [[giant muntjac]] are [[Vulnerable species|vulnerable]], [[Near-threatened species|near threatened]], and [[Critically Endangered]], respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/136551/22165292 |title=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Muntiacus vaginalis |date=25 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/42190/56005589 |title = IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Muntiacus Muntjak |date = 18 November 2015}}</ref>

==Name==
The present name is a borrowing of the [[latinisation of names|Latinized]] form of the [[Dutch language|Dutch]] {{lang|nl|muntjak}}, which was borrowed from the [[Sundanese language|Sundanese]] ''mēncēk''. The [[Latin]] form first appeared as {{lang|la|[[Cervus]] muntjac}} in [[E.A.W. von Zimmerman|Zimmerman]] in 1780.<ref>{{citation |title=Oxford English Dictionary |contribution=muntjac, ''n''. |date=2003 }}.</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Von Zimmerman |first=Eberhard August Wilhelm |author-link=Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann |title=Geographische Geschichte des Menschen, und der Allgemein Verbreiteten Vierfussigen Thiere |date=1780 |volume=II |page=131 }}. {{in lang|de}}</ref> An erroneous alternative name of ''Mastreani deer'' has its origins in a [[Vandalism on Wikipedia|mischievous Wikipedia entry]] from 2011 and is incorrect.<ref>Smith-Jones, C. (2020), 'Mastreani deer, a very modern hoax', ''The British Deer Society: Deer Journal'' Summer 2020 p25 https://online.fliphtml5.com/svis/tqfn/#p=12</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Barking Deer - Kolkata 2011-05-03 2409.JPG|thumb|Head of a muntjac]]
[[File:Barking deer skeleton.jpg|thumb|Skull]]
The present-day species are native to Asia and can be found in India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Vietnam, the Indonesian islands, Taiwan and Southern China. Their habitat includes areas of dense vegetation, rainforests, monsoon forests and they like to be close to a water source.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Jackson|first=Adria|title=Muntiacus muntjak (Indian muntjac)|url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Muntiacus_muntjak/|access-date=2021-07-20|website=Animal Diversity Web|language=en}}</ref> They are also found in the lower Himalayas ([[Terai]] regions of [[Nepal]] and [[Bhutan]]).

An [[invasive species|invasive]] population of [[Reeves's muntjac]] exists in the United Kingdom and in some areas of Japan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nies.go.jp/biodiversity/invasive/DB/detail/10250e.html|title=Reeves's (or Chinese) Muntjac / Invasive Species of Japan|website=www.nies.go.jp|access-date=7 April 2018}}</ref> In the United Kingdom, wild deer descended from escapees from the [[Woburn Abbey]] estate around 1925.<ref name="Whitehead1964">{{cite book
|first=George Kenneth |last=Whitehead
|title=The deer of Great Britain and Ireland: an account of their history, status and distribution
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2yDxAAAAMAAJ|year=1964|publisher=Routledge & K. Paul |location=London |pages={{page needed|date=September 2011}}}}</ref> Muntjac have expanded rapidly, and are present in most English counties and also in [[Wales]], although they are less common in the north-west. The British Deer Society in 2007 found that muntjac deer had noticeably expanded their range in the UK since 2000.<ref name="BDS2011">[http://www.bds.org.uk/c2/uploads/muntjac.pdf Deer Distribution Survey 2007] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923183044/http://www.bds.org.uk/c2/uploads/muntjac.pdf |date=23 September 2015 }} The British Deer Society. Retrieved 6 September 2011.</ref> Specimens appeared in Northern Ireland in 2009, and in the Republic of Ireland in 2010.

Inhabiting tropical regions, the deer have no seasonal [[Rut (mammalian reproduction)|rut]], and mating can take place at any time of year; this behaviour is retained by populations introduced to [[temperate]] countries.

===Tusks===
Males have short antlers, which can regrow, but they tend to fight for territory with their "tusks" (downward-pointing canine teeth). The presence of these "tusks" is otherwise unknown in native British wild deer and can be an identifying feature to differentiate a muntjac from an immature native deer. [[Water deer]] also have visible tusks<ref>{{Cite web |last=Emily |title=Chinese water deer |url=https://ptes.org/get-informed/facts-figures/chinese-water-deer/ |access-date=2022-08-27 |website=People's Trust for Endangered Species |language=en-GB}}</ref> but they are much less widespread.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}
Although these tusks resemble those of both water deer and the [[musk deer]], the muntjac is not related to either of these (and they are not related to each other). The tusks are a quite different shape in each.

=== Glands ===
Muntjacs possess various scent glands that have crucial functions in communication and territorial marking. They use their facial glands primarily to mark the ground and occasionally other individuals, and the glands are opened during defecation and urination, as well as sometimes during social displays. While the frontal glands are typically opened involuntarily as a result of facial muscle contractions, the preorbital glands can be voluntarily opened much wider and even everted to push out the underlying glandular tissue. Even young fawns are capable of fully everting their preorbital glands.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Barrette |first=C. |date=1976 |title=Musculature of facial scent glands in the muntjac |journal=Journal of Anatomy |volume=122 |issue=Pt 1 |pages=61–66 |issn=0021-8782 |pmc=1231931 |pmid=977477}}</ref>

==Genetics==

[[File:Metaphase spread of the Indian muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak vaginalis).jpg|thumb|''Muntiacus muntjak'' chromosomes]]
Muntjac are of great interest in evolutionary studies because of their dramatic [[chromosome]] variations and the recent discovery of several new species. The [[Indian muntjac]] (''M. muntjak'') is the mammal with the lowest recorded chromosome number: The male has a [[diploid number]] of 7, the female only 6 chromosomes. [[Reeves's muntjac]] (''M. reevesi''), in comparison, has a diploid number of 46 chromosomes.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1126/science.168.3937.1364 |title=Indian Momtjac, Muntiacus muntiak: A Deer with a Low Diploid Chromosome Number |journal=Science |volume=168 |issue=3937 |pages=1364–1366 |year=1970 |last1=Wurster |first1=D. H. |last2=Benirschke |first2=K. |pmid=5444269 |bibcode=1970Sci...168.1364W |s2cid=45371297 }}</ref>

==Species==
The genus ''Muntiacus'' has 12 recognized species:

* [[Bornean yellow muntjac]], ''M.atherodes''
* [[Hairy-fronted muntjac]] or black muntjac, ''M. crinifrons''
* [[Fea's muntjac]], ''M. feae''
* [[Gongshan muntjac]], ''M. gongshanensis''
* [[Malabar red muntjak]], ''M. malabaricus''<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.mammaldiversity.org/explore.html#species-id=1006331|title= ''Muntiacus malabaricus''|author= |website= Mammal Diversity Database |publisher= American Society of Mammalogists |access-date= 21 July 2021}}</ref>
* [[Sumatran muntjac]] ''M. montanus''
* [[Southern red muntjac]], ''Muntiacus muntjak''
* [[Leaf muntjac]] ''M. putaoensis''
* [[Pu Hoat muntjac]] ''M. puhoatensis''
* [[Reeves's muntjac]] or Chinese muntjac, ''M. reevesi''
* [[Roosevelt's muntjac]], ''M. rooseveltorum''
* [[Truong Son muntjac]] ''M. truongsonensis''
* [[Northern red muntjac]], ''M. vaginalis''<ref name="Groves2003100341">{{cite journal | last1 = Groves | first1 = C. | year = 2003 | pages = 341–362 | title = Taxonomy of ungulates of the Indian subcontinent | journal = Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society | volume = 100 | issue = 2–3}}</ref>
* [[Giant muntjac]], ''M. vuquangensis''

==See also==
*[[Deer of Great Britain]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==

*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/nature/mediaexplorer/?theme_group=species&theme=mammals&set=muntjac_deer BBC Wales Nature: Muntjac deer article]
*
**{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Muntjac |short=x |noicon=x}}
**{{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Muntjac|year=1921 |short=x |noicon=x}}
}}

{{Artiodactyla|R.1}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q234121}}

[[Category:Muntjac| ]]
[[Category:Muntiacini]]
[[Category:Mammals of Asia]]
[[Category:Mammals of Southeast Asia]]
[[Category:Mammals of Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Mammals of Bhutan]]
[[Category:Mammals of Myanmar]]
[[Category:Mammals of China]]
[[Category:Mammals of India]]
[[Category:Mammals of Indonesia]]
[[Category:Mammals of Japan]]
[[Category:Mammals of Malaysia]]
[[Category:Mammals of Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque]]

Muntjac - Revision history

Peter120: updated page and added references

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article