📸 PhotoPhoto: Emőke Dénes · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Water Chevrotain
Hyemoschus aquaticus (Water Chevrotain · ミズマメジカ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 With a maximum body length of 85 cm and maximum weight of 15 kg, it is said to be about the size of a rabbit and is lighter than a 20 kg bag of rice (Comparison).
- 💡 In local parts of Africa, it is avidly hunted by people.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The Water Chevrotain is a small deer-like animal living in African tropical rainforests, about the size of a rabbit and staying close to water.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
It has a small, pointed head, a stocky body, and slender legs. Its hindquarters are wedge-shaped and slightly raised. Neither sex has antlers, and males have well-developed sharp canines.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It feeds mainly on the leaves, fruits, and buds of trees and shrubs, occasionally eating insects or crustaceans. It is a ruminant with a four-chambered stomach. Males live solitarily, while females stay within a single home range and give birth to a single young each year.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2016) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/10341/50188841
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • mammaldiversity.org — 1006351
- • iucnredlist.org — 50188841
- • wikidata.org — Q256572
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Em - Hyemoschus aquaticus.jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Hyemoschus aquaticus
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — W. T. Blanford · Public Domain Mark 1.0 (Related taxon silhouette — Moschiola meminna)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.