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Musk ox - OVIBOS MOSCHATUS
Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Musk": "Musk" means "small mouse," for the mouse-like sac that holds the musk oil.
Location: northern Canada to western Greenland
Habitat: Terrestrial. Arctic tundra.
Description: The body is covered with a long dense coat of dark brown guard hairs over paler underfur. It protects the musk ox from the dry cold conditions of the Arctic regions. Both sexes have horns about 28 inches long. The base of the horns is flat, covering the forehead and running down the sides of the head, and the tips of the horns curve upward. The legs are short and strongly built, with large hooves. These goats reach over eight feet long, five feet high at the shoulder, and can weigh almost 700 pounds!
Behavior: The diurnal musk ox lives in herds led by one or more dominant males. During the mating season (which peaks in August) the males fight furiously to acquire and keep a harem. During this period, the males emit a distinctive smell of musk (hence its name). In summer it feeds on birch and dwarf willow leaves, and in winter it digs with its hooves into the snow mantle in search of mosses, lichens, and roots. The main enemy of the musk ox is the Arctic wolf. In defense, a circle is formed with the females and young in the center and the males on the outside facing outward. When the wolf approaches the musk oxen drive it away with blows of their horns.
Reproduction: The gestation period lasts 8 to 9 months, after which a single calf is born (twins rarely). Females become sexually mature at about three and a half years, and males at about five years.
Go to the Artiodactyla Page to learn more about all the even-toed hoofed animals.
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