There are 12 species in the tribe Muntiacini (one of the two tribes in the subfamily Cervinae in the Cervidae, the deer family; the tribe Muntiacini is sometimes treated as subfamily Muntiacinae). Eleven of these 12 species are in the genus Muntiacus and are known as muntjacs (the 12th species is the Tufted Deer, Elaphodus cephalophus). Most muntjacs are diurnal and solitary. Many muntjac species are threatened by hunting and habitat loss and degradation. (Gilbert et al. 2006; Mattioli 2011 and references therein)
A few muntjac species have been the focus of considerable study (e.g., Black Muntjac, Reeves' Muntjac), but most species are little known and several were not even discovered (or, in the case ofRoosevelts' Muntjac, rediscovered) until the end of the 20th or dawn of the 21st century (Gongshan Muntjac in southwestern China, Giant Muntjac along the Laos/Vietnam border, Annamite Muntjac from Laos, Leaf Muntjac from Burma and India, Roosevelts' Muntjac from Laos and Vietnam).
Muntjacs are found throughout Southeast Asia, southern China, and India. They have been of great interest to evolutionary biologists because of their striking karyotype diversity. It appears that karyotypic evolution in muntjacs has proceeded via reduction in diploid number. The Red Muntjac has the lowest diploid chromosomal number in mammals (2n = 6 for females and 7 for males) whereas Reeves' Muntjac has 2n = 46 in both sexes(remarkably, these two species can produce viable F1 hybrids in captivity). The Tufted Deer, which is the sole species in the other genus of the Muntiacinae subfamily, Elaphodus, and is found across most of southern China and at least historically occurred in northern Burma, has polymorphic karyotypes with three different diploid numbers, 46, 47, and 48, observed in natural populations. (Wang and Lan 2000 and references therein,James et al. 2008 and references therein; Mattioli 2011 and references therein)
The following Muntiacus species are recognized by Mattioli 2011:
Reeves' Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi) is found in southeastern China and Taiwan. Animals from mainland China were introduced to England in the early 20th century, where they are now common common and expanding their range.
Giant Muntjac (Muntiacus vuquangensis) is known only from the Annamite Mountains of Laos, Vietnam, and eastern Cambodia. Individuals of this species were observed several decades before the Giant Muntjac was described, but they were mistakenly believed to be large Red Muntjac.
Fea's Muntjac (Muntiacus feae) is known from Thailand and Burma.
Black Muntjacs (Muntiacus crinifrons) are found in eastern China. For more than a century only five specimens were known; the population in the late 1990s was estimated to be 7000 to 8500 individuals.
Gongshan Muntjac (Muntiacus gongshanenis) is found in southwestern China and northern Burma and may also be present in Tibet, northeastern India, and Bhutan.
Red Muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak) is very broadly distributed, but some authors believe populations across this range should actually be be treated as three distinct species, M. muntjac (of the Malaysian and Sundaic regions), M. montanus (of the Sumatran mountains), and M. vaginalis (of south and southeastern continental Asia). Red Muntjacs from the mainland have been introduced to the Andaman Islands.Red Muntjacs are believed to be important fruit dispersers. Potential maximum lifespan is around 17 years. Tigers. Leopards, and Clouded Leopards are their main predators. Red Muntjac meat is frequently consumed in south and southeast Asia, but the species is still relatively common across most of its range, although it may be declining.
Bornean Yellow Muntjacs (Muntiacus atherodes) are endemic to Borneo. For many decades they were confused with Red Muntjacs, which also occur on Borneo. Bornean Yellow Muntjacs are widespread and locally common but are probably declining, especially on the Indonesian portion of Borneo.
Roosevelts' Muntjac (Muntiacus rooseveltorum) is found in the Annamite Mountain in Laos and possibly in Vietnam and southern China as well. The first specimen was collected in1929, but the species was not rediscovered until 1996. The specific epithet is in honor of two of Theodore Roosevelt's sons, Kermit and Theodore, Jr., who sponsored the expedition on which the first specimen was collected.
Annamite Muntjacs (Muntiacus truongsonensis) are found in the Annamite Mountains of Laos and Vietnam and possibly in Yunnan (southern China). However, the taxonomic validity of this species remains uncertain.
The Leaf Muntjac (Muntiacus putaoensis) was described from Northern Burma but later found to be present in northeastern India as well.
A putative species known as the Puhoat Muntjac (M. puhoatensis) is known only from the type specimen and may not even be a valid species, but if it is a distinct species it is probably found in northwestern Vietnam and possibly neighboring Laos.
(Wang and Lan 2000 and references therein; Mattioli 2011 and references therein)
Muntjacs (/mʌntdʒæk/ MUNT-jak),[1] also known as the barking deer[2] or rib-faced deer,[2] 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[3] and Poland.[4] 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, near threatened, and Critically Endangered, respectively.[5][6]
The present name is a borrowing of the Latinized form of the Dutch muntjak, which was borrowed from the Sundanese mēncēk. The Latin form first appeared as Cervus muntjac in Zimmerman in 1780.[7][8] An erroneous alternative name of Mastreani deer has its origins in a mischievous Wikipedia entry from 2011 and is incorrect.[9]
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.[10] They are also found in the lower Himalayas (Terai regions of Nepal and Bhutan).
An invasive population of Reeves's muntjac exists in the United Kingdom and in some areas of Japan.[11] In the United Kingdom, wild deer descended from escapees from the Woburn Abbey estate around 1925.[12] 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.[13] Specimens appeared in Northern Ireland in 2009, and in the Republic of Ireland in 2010.
Inhabiting tropical regions, the deer have no seasonal rut, and mating can take place at any time of year; this behaviour is retained by populations introduced to temperate countries.
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[14] but they are much less widespread. 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.
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.[15]
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.[16]
The genus Muntiacus has 12 recognized species:
Muntjacs (/mʌntdʒæk/ MUNT-jak), also known as the barking deer or rib-faced deer, 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 and Poland. 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, near threatened, and Critically Endangered, respectively.