Musk Deer

Musk-Deer (Moschus moschiferus), an aberrant Artiodactyle ruminant from the mountainous parts of Central Asia, constituting a subfamily of Cervida3 (deer), or in some classifications a distinct family. The limbs are long, the ears large, the average height at the shoulder is twenty inches, the coloration greyish-brown, becoming paler in winter, and the long coarse hair is very brittle. They are generally met with singly in rocky places.

Neither sex bears antlers; the upper canines of the male are abnormally large and curve downwards below the under-jaw. These animals are hunted for the musk of commerce, which is secreted by the males in a pouch in the abdomen.