Ajay Kumar at 19:44, 25 August 2023

2023-08-25T19:44:21Z

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{{Short description|Species of deer}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Indian hog deer
| image = Indian hog deer.jpg
| image_caption = Indian hog deer in [[Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary]], Thailand
| status = EN
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |title=''Axis porcinus'' |author=Timmins, R. |author2=Duckworth, J.W. |author3=Samba Kumar, N. |author4=Anwarul Islam, M. |author5=Sagar Baral, H. |author6=Long, B. |author7=Maxwell, A. |date=2015 |page=e.T41784A22157664 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T41784A22157664.en |access-date=21 January 2022}}</ref>
| genus = Axis
| species = porcinus
| range_map = Axis porcinus range map.png
| range_map_caption = Range in green
| authority = ([[Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann|Zimmermann]], 1780)
| synonyms = ''Hyelaphus porcinus'' <small>(Zimmermann, 1780)</small>
}}

The '''Indian hog deer''' ('''''Axis porcinus'''''), or '''Indochinese hog deer''', is a small [[cervid]] native to the region of the [[Indian subcontinent]] and [[Indo-Gangetic Plain]]. Introduced populations are established in [[Australia]],<ref>{{cite book |author=Mayze, R.J. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Moore, G.I. |year=1990 |title=The Hog Deer |location=Warragul, Victoria |publisher=Australian Deer Research Foundation |isbn=9780959343861}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Bentley, A. |year=1998 |title=An Introduction to the Deer of Australia: With Special Reference to Victoria |location=Warragul, Victoria |publisher=Australian Deer Research Foundation |isbn=9780958573214}}</ref> as well as the [[United States]] and [[Sri Lanka]].<ref name=iucn/>

Its name derives from the [[Hog (swine)|hog]]-like manner in which it runs through forests (with its head hung low), to ease ducking under obstacles instead of leaping over them, like most other deer.

== Taxonomy ==
''Cervus porcinus'' was the [[scientific name]] used by [[Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann]] in 1777 and 1780, based on an earlier description of Indian hog deer brought to England from India.<ref>{{cite book |author=Zimmermann, E.A.W. |year=1777 |title=Specimen zoologiae geographicae, quadrupedum domicilia et migrationes sistens |location=Leiden |publisher=Apud Theodorum Haak, et Socios |pages=532–535 |chapter=''Cornibus teretibus'' |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/specimenzoologia00zimm/page/531/mode/1up}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Zimmermann, E.A.W. |year=1780 |title=Geographische Geschichte des Menschen, und der allgemein verbreiteten vierfüßigen Thiere |volume=2 |place=Leipzig |publisher=Weygand |chapter=Der dickleibige Hirsch |page=131 |chapter-url=https://publikationsserver.tu-braunschweig.de/rsc/viewer/dbbs_derivate_00004650/max/00000144.jpg}}</ref>
It was placed in the genus ''[[Axis (genus)|Axis]]'' by [[William Jardine (naturalist)|William Jardine]] in 1835 and by [[Brian Houghton Hodgson]] in 1847.<ref>{{cite book |author=Jardine, W. |year=1835 |title=The natural history of the ruminating animals |location=Edinburgh |publisher=Lizars |pages=203–204 |chapter=The brown porcupine Axis ''Axis porcinus'' |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/naturalhistoryr1jard/page/n201/mode/2up}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Hodgson, B.H. |year=1847 |title=On various genera of the ruminants |journal=The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=685–711 |url=https://archive.org/details/journalofasiatic162asia/page/691/mode/1up}}</ref>
In 2004, it was proposed to be placed in the genus ''[[Hyelaphus]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Meijaard, E. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Groves, C.P. |year=2004 |title=Morphometrical relationships between South-east Asian deer (Cervidae, tribe Cervini): evolutionary and biogeographic implications |journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=263 |issue=2 |pages=179–196 |doi=10.1017/S0952836904005011}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Pitra, C. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Fickel, J. |author3=Meijaard, E. |author4=Groves, C.P. |year=2004 |title=Evolution and phylogeny of old world deer |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=880–895 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2004.07.013|pmid=15522810 }}</ref> The proposal has not been accepted, with most authors keeping it under ''Axis''.<ref name=Groves-Grubb-2011>{{cite book |last1=Groves |first1=C.P. |last2=Grubb |first2=P. |name-list-style=amp |year=2011 |title=Ungulate taxonomy |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore, Maryland |url=https://zmmu.msu.ru/grubb-groves-2011_taxonomy_ungulates.pdf |access-date=2021-08-25 |archive-date=2021-10-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211030224638/https://zmmu.msu.ru/grubb-groves-2011_taxonomy_ungulates.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=iucn/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gupta |first1=S. K. |last2=Kumar |first2=A. |last3=Angom |first3=S. |last4=Singh |first4=B. |last5=Ghazi |first5=M. G. U. |last6=Tuboi |first6=C. |last7=Hussain |first7=S. A. |year=2018 |title=Genetic analysis of endangered hog deer (''Axis porcinus'') reveals two distinct lineages from the Indian subcontinent |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=1–12 |doi=10.1038/s41598-018-34482-9 |pmid=30397218 |pmc=6218551 |bibcode=2018NatSR...816308G |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328739252}}</ref> A subspecies, ''A. p. annamiticus'', was once considered its own species, but is now generally considered the same species as ''A. porcinus''.<ref name=iucn/>

==Description==
[[File:Hog deer in Terai grassland.JPG|thumb|Young hog deer male in Assam]]
{{Refimprove section|date=January 2022}}
A mature hog deer stag stands about {{convert|70|cm}} at the shoulder, and weighs approximately {{convert|50|kg}}; hinds are much smaller, standing about {{convert|61|cm}} and weighing around {{convert|30|kg}}. They are very solidly built, with a long body and relatively short legs; the line of the back slopes upward from the shoulders to a high rump. The ears are rounded; older animals tend to become light coloured in the face and neck.
The Indian hog deer's coat is quite thick, and generally a uniform dark-brown in winter, except for the underparts of the body and legs, which are lighter in colour. During late spring, the change to a summer coat of rich reddish-brown commences, although this may vary between individuals. Many hog deer show a dark dorsal stripe extending from the head down the back of the neck, and along the spine. In summer, there is usually a uniform row of light-coloured spots along either side of the dorsal stripe from the shoulders to the rump. The tail is fairly short and brown, but tipped with white. The underside of the tail is white, and the deer can fan the white hairs out in a distinctive alarm display.

Indian hog deer have [[preorbital gland]]s on the face just below the eyes and metatarsal glands located high on the side of the rear legs. Pedal glands are located between the cleaves or toes of the hind hooves.

The antlers of a mature hog deer stag are typically three tined, having a brow tine and a solid main beam terminating in inner and outer top tines. However, antlers with more points are not uncommon.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Michelin |first1=Andrea |title=Axis porcinus |url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Axis_porcinus/ |website=Animal Diversity Web |access-date=12 July 2022}}</ref> The distinctive features of typical hog deer antlers are the acute angle between the brow tine and main beam, and the fact that the inner tops tend to be short and angle back from the main beam and across towards the opposite antler.

== Distribution and habitat ==
The Indian hog deer's status in [[Pakistan]] is uncertain; it occurs in northern [[India]], [[Nepal]], southern [[Bhutan]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Myanmar]] and [[China]]'s [[Yunnan]] Province, has been reintroduced to [[Thailand]] but is [[locally extinct]] in [[Laos]] and [[Vietnam]].<ref name=iucn/>
A small, isolated population lives in [[Cambodia]]’s [[Prek Prasab Wildlife Sanctuary]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Rare hog deer confirmed to thrives in Cambodia raising hope for conservation in Cambodia and the world |url=https://asiapacific.panda.org/?374475/Rare-hog-deer-confirmed-to-thrives-in-Cambodia-raising-hope-for-conservation-in-Cambodia-and-the-world |date=2022 |accessdate=8 May 2023 |website=WWF Asia Pacific}}</ref>

==Behaviour and ecology==
[[File:Indian Hog Deer.jpg|thumb|Female suckling fawn in Kaziranga, India]]
The Indian hog deer is gregarious only when conditions are favorable and do not form a "unit" at these times, fleeing in different directions rather than in a herd. When alarmed, it makes a whistling vocalization or a warning bark. Home ranges vary widely in size, but average about {{cvt|0.70|km2}}. Males are aggressive, and may become territorial at low population densities, [[territorial marking|marking its territory]] with glandular secretions. During the rut, males gather in open meadows, pawing the ground during antagonistic encounters. Harems are not created, with males courting and defending a single female at any given time. Population densities may be as low as 0.1 animals per square kilometer in riverine valleys, rising to over 19 individuals per square kilometer in grassy flood plains.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

The [[tiger]], [[leopard]] and [[clouded leopard]] are known predators of the Indian hog deer.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Grassman Jr., L. I. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Tewes, M. E. |author3=Silvy, N. J. |author4=Kreetiyutanont, K. |date=2005 |title=Ecology of three sympatric felids in a mixed evergreen forest in North-central Thailand |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=86 |issue=1 |pages=29–38 |doi=10.1644/1545-1542(2005)086<0029:EOTSFI>2.0.CO;2 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Other known predators include the [[Burmese python]] and [[dhole]].<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Hill, E. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Linacre, A. |author3=Toop, S. |author4=Murphy, N. |author5=Strugnell, J. |year=2019 |title=Widespread hybridization in the introduced hog deer population of Victoria, Australia, and its implications for conservation |journal=Ecology and Evolution |volume=9 |issue=18 |pages=10828–10842 |doi=10.1002/ece3.5603 |pmid=31624584 |pmc=6787866}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Chital]]
*[[Sambar deer]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wikispecies|Axis porcinus|Hyelaphus porcinus}}
{{Commons category|Axis porcinus}}
{{BioRef|asm|id=1006310 |title=''Axis porcinus'' |version=1.5 |access-date=25 August 2021}}

{{Artiodactyla|R.1}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q372169}}

[[Category:Axis]]
[[Category:Mammals of Asia]]
[[Category:Mammals of India]]
[[Category:Mammals of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Mammals of Southeast Asia]]
[[Category:Mammals of Thailand]]
[[Category:Introduced mammals of Australia]]
[[Category:Mammals described in 1780]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann]]

Indian hog deer - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 19:44, 25 August 2023