page_title: Water deer
section_title: Teeth
hierarchical_section_title: Water deer / Morphology / Teeth
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: キバノロ（Hydropotes inermis）の剥製。国立科学博物館の展示。 English: Stuffed specimen of Chinese water deer (Hydropotes inermis). Exhibit in the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, Japan.
context_page_description: The water deer is a small deer superficially more similar to a musk deer than a true deer. Native to China and Korea, there are two subspecies: the Chinese water deer and the Korean water deer. Despite certain anatomical anomalies, including a pair of prominent tusks, and its lack of antlers, it is classified as a cervid. Its unique anatomical characteristics have caused it to be classified in its own genus as well as its own subfamily. However, studies of mitochondrial control region and cytochrome b DNA sequences placed it near Capreolus within an Old World section of the subfamily Capreolinae. Its prominent tusks, similar to those of musk deer, have led to both subspecies being colloquially named vampire deer in English-speaking areas to which they have been imported. The species is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN. It was first described to the Western world by Robert Swinhoe in 1870.
context_section_description: The water deer have developed long canine teeth which protrude from the upper jaw like the canines of musk deer. The canines are fairly large in the bucks, ranging in length from 5.5 cm / 2.1 in. on average to as long as 8 cm / 3.2 in. Does, in comparison, have tiny canines that are on an average of 0.5 cm / 0.2 in. in length.
  The teeth usually erupt in the autumn of the deer's first year at approximately 6–7 months of age. By early spring the recently erupted tusks reach approximately 50% of their final length. As the tusks develop, the root remains open until the deer is about eighteen months to two years old. When fully grown, only about 60% of the tusk is visible below the gum.
  These canines are held loosely in their sockets, with their movements controlled by facial muscles. The buck can draw them backwards out of the way when eating. In aggressive encounters, he thrusts his canines out and draws in his lower lip to pull his teeth closer together. He then presents an impressive two-pronged weapon to rival males. It is due to these teeth that this animal is often referred to as a "vampire deer."
caption: A stuffed specimen of H. inermis at the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, Japan.
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