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aiiiiiiii! Saber tooth Bambi

I cannot beLIEVE the Daily Mail would do a feature on highway strikes by muntjac deer without mentioning the lurid fact that these adorable critters HAVE GINORMOUS HORRIBLE SLAVERING FANGS. Well, the males do.

Seriously, are there any other herbivores with huge pointy canines? I mean, other than that other Chinese deer with the pointy teeth? It’s a male aggression thing, like horns. I mean, they don’t roam the countryside tearing the throats out of unsuspecting hikers.

Muntjacs are an import. They got away from a wildlife park in 1925 and, like so many accidental imports, they’re loving the temperate climate of England. Multiplying like bunnies (which are also imports, by the way).

Also, Wikipedia tells me “The Indian Muntjac is the mammal with the lowest recorded chromosome number: The male has a diploid number of 7, the female only 6 chromosomes.”

Okay, I just threw that last bit in to get Oceania’s motor running.

October 18, 2011 — 11:23 pm
Comments: 41