Indian hog deer | |
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Indian hog deer in Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Family: | Cervidae |
Genus: | Axis |
Species: | A. porcinus
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Binomial name | |
Axis porcinus (Zimmermann, 1780)
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Range in green | |
Synonyms | |
Hyelaphus porcinus (Zimmermann, 1780) |
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,[2][3] as well as the United States and Sri Lanka.[1]
Its name derives from the 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.