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Four-horned antelope - TETRACERUS QUADRICORNIS
Possibly Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Antelope": "Antelope" is a French word for a fabulous oriental beast. The "four-horned" antelope is called the "Tetracerus (Latin for "four-horned") quadricornis (Greek for "four-horned"), which probably indicates how amazed the biologist who discovered and named the animal was at the four horns.
Location: India.
Habitat: Terrestrial. Wooded areas rich in vegetation, near streams and rivers.
Description: The body is covered with a short dark brown coat. Only the males have horns, and these are curved and point upward. A second, shorter pair of horns is often present on the foremost part of the forehead. The legs are slender, and the body is higher in the area of the rump. Length of head and body is about four feet, with a shoulder height of about two feet. It weights about 45 pounds.
Behavior: This diurnal animal is usually solitary and has a retiring disposition. If alarmed by the presence of strangers it flattens itself in the scrub, or dashes away with impressive leaps and bounds. It must drink at regular intervals and so must not go too far from a source of water. In the mating season, which occurs during the monsoons (June through September), the males become quite aggressive toward other stags.
Reproduction: After a gestation of 7 to 8 months the female gives birth to one to three young.
Go to the Artiodactyla Page to learn more about all the even-toed hoofed animals.
Or go to the Antelope Index to study other
antelopes.
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