Moschus chrysogaster Hodgson 1839
Creators: name: Wilson, Don E.
name: Mittermeier, Russell A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Artiodactyla
Moschidae
Moschus
Moschus chrysogaster

description: 2. Alpine Musk-deer <i>Moschus chrysogaster</i> <b>French:</b> Porte-musc alpin / <b>German:</b> Gelbbauch-Moschustier / <b>Spanish:</b> Ciervo almizclero dorado <b>Taxonomy.</b> Moschus chrysogaster Hodgson, 1839, “Cis and Trans Hemelayan regions,” probably from the Tibetan Plateau, north of the Himalayas. Two subspecies recognized. <b>Subspecies and Distribution.</b> M.c.chrysogasterHodgson,1839—alpinezoneat2800-4000mofNIndia(includingSikkim),Nepal,andBhutan. M. c. sifanicus Büchner, 1891 — alpine zone at 3500-4800 m of C &amp; S China (S Ningxia, Qinghai, S Gansu, W Sichuan, SE Xizang &amp; NW Yunnan). <b>Descriptive notes.</b> Head-body 85-90 cm, tail 4-6 cm, height at shoulder, 50-60 cm; weight 11-18 kg. One of the largest species of musk-deer. Skull length in subspecies sifanicus is 1516-5 cm and in the nominotypical subspecies 14:5-16 cm. Overall color striated reddish or yellowish-gray; paler on flanks; underside reddish-creamy-gray, as are the inner surfaces of the limbs and the midline of the throat, but there are no white stripes on the neck. There is an orange eye ring. Individual hairs are brown with a red-yellow subterminal band. Ears are pale brown, tipped with yellow, and gray inside. Throat with a single broad, ill-defined creamy longitudinal band. Legs paler than body on lower segments, grayish-yellow, somewhat darkened down front surfaces. Rump paler than back, yellowish, with a black patch on buttocks. Young spotted. A faint dorsal stripe. Hair bases long, milky gray or brown. Winter hairs 34-42 mm long on withers, 55-64 mm on rump. The face is greatly elongated, constituting more than half the skull length; the lachrymal length is much longer than its height. Limbs are elongated, but not as much as those of the Siberian species: metacarpal length 109-119 mm, metatarsal 128-148 mm. The metapodials are sturdier than those of the Siberian Musk-deer, the width of the lower head of the metacarpal is more than 15-5%, of the metatarsal more than 14-5% of their lengths. The hindlimbs are slightly less elongated compared to the forelimbs, the metatarsal length is 124-128% of that of the metacarpal. The metatarsal length is 90-95% of skull length, the metacarpal 72-77%. <b>Habitat.</b> Once found throughout the “dwarf bush zone” in suitable areas of the Tibetan Plateau, nowadays due to human disturbance the habitat is fragmented and populations are isolated on separate mountains. Chinese Alpine Musk-deer live in highelevation bush, where the mean annual temperature is around 3-7°C and often falls below freezing; they prefer shrubby habitats to meadows. They inhabit shaded slopes with better shelter and less disturbance, the steeper slopes at greater than 30°. The elevation of their habitat is typically 4000-4500 m, only sometimes going below 4000 m. Annual rainfall varies from about 200 mm to as much as 450 mm or more. Musk-deer population density varies from 3-9 ind/km? in the more arid habitats to 71-11 ind/km? where the rainfall is highest; density is lower where there is heavy snow cover. Densities in dwarf forest and shrub are highest, but more continuous dense shrub is avoided, and patchy shrub has the highest densities among habitat types. Where there are more competitors, such as Serow and Goral, and more grazing by domestic herds, and of course more poaching, densities are again lower. <b>Food and Feeding.</b> The diet contains the leaves of 46 species (mostly shrubs and forbs), flowers of 30 species, shoots and stems of 16 species, and seeds ofsix species; the proportion of leaves and tender shoots is highest in spring and summer, of buds and flowers higher in late summer, and of the leaves, twigs, and seeds of forbs and shrubs higher later in the year. <b>Breeding.</b> In the Xinglong Mountain National Nature Reserve, east of Qinghai Lake, births occur from May to July, when rainfall and temperature are highest; the younger females (less than two years old) have their birth season more spread out than the more mature females. Compared to the wild, in captivity the birth season is longer and begins later. The twinning rate is lower than in the Siberian Musk-deer, only two in twelve births. The neonates weigh 700-750 g at three days old. Lactation lasts for two months; the young begin browsing at 20 days. <b>Activity patterns.</b> Very little is known about activity patterns, but they have been reported to sleep during the day in a form, which is made by scraping out a shallow depression in the ground, which just fits the body when the animalis crouching low. <b>Movements, Home range and Social organization.</b> The social organization seems to be rather different from that of the Siberian Musk-deer. Males and females seem not to be associated in pairs, nor are there “satellite” males; instead the home ranges of the dominant males overlap those of females, but the other males occupy separate home ranges. Home range in summeris smaller than in autumn; the home ranges of males average 35-5 ha in July to September, and expand to 47-17 ha (i.e. by 63-4%) in October to early November, the rutting season; female ranges enlarge from 28-95 ha to 40-76 ha (a 40-8% increase). <b>Status and Conservation.</b> CITES Appendix I, except Chinese populations which are listed in Appendix II. Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List, because of a probable population decline caused by overexploitation, shrinkage in distribution, and habitat destruction and degradation. Although data are lacking regarding recent population levels, the high levels of harvesting and habitat loss do not bode well. A poorly documented estimate is that there were 180,000 wild individuals in China in the 1960s and 1970s and no more than 100,000 within China in the 1990s. <b>Bibliography.</b> Grubb (1982), Liu Zhixiao &amp; Sheng Helin (2008), Liu Zhixiao et al. (2002), Meng Xiuxiang, Yang Qisen, Feng Zuojian, Shi Zemei &amp; Jiang Yingwen (2005), Meng Xiuxiang, Yang Qisen, Feng Zuojian, Xia Lin et al. (2003), Yang Qisen et al. (1998), Zhang Hongmao &amp; Hu Jinchu (2000).
description: Published as part of <i>Don E. Wilson &amp; Russell A. Mittermeier, 2011, Moschidae, pp. 336-348 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 2 Hoofed Mammals, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions</i> on pages 345-346, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5720521