Description
The four-horned antelope is among the smallest Asian bovids, standing just 55 to 64 cm (22 to 25 in) tall at the shoulder, and weighing 17 to 22 kg (37 to 49 lb). It has a generally slender build, with thin legs and a short tail. The coat is yellow-brown or reddish, fading to a whitish colour on the underparts and the insides of the legs. A black stripe of hair runs down the anterior surface of each leg, with black patches on the muzzle and the backs of the ears. Females have four teats, located far back on the abdomen.
The most distinctive feature of the animal is the presence of four horns; a feature unique among extant mammals. Only the males grow horns, usually with two between the ears and a second pair further forward on the forehead. The first pair of horns appear at just a few months of age, and the second pair generally grow after 10 to 14 months. The horns are never shed, although they may be damaged during fights. Not all adult males have horns; in some individuals, especially those belonging to the subspecies T. q. subquadricornis, the forward pair of horns is absent or represented only by small, hairless bumps. The hind pair of horns reaches 7 to 10 cm (2.8 to 3.9 in) in length, while the forward pair is usually smaller, at just 2 to 5 cm (0.79 to 2.0 in).
Read more about this topic: Four-horned Antelope
Famous quotes containing the word description:
“Once a child has demonstrated his capacity for independent functioning in any area, his lapses into dependent behavior, even though temporary, make the mother feel that she is being taken advantage of....What only yesterday was a description of the child’s stage in life has become an indictment, a judgment.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)
“An intentional object is given by a word or a phrase which gives a description under which.”
—Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe (b. 1919)
“As they are not seen on their way down the streams, it is thought by fishermen that they never return, but waste away and die, clinging to rocks and stumps of trees for an indefinite period; a tragic feature in the scenery of the river bottoms worthy to be remembered with Shakespeare’s description of the sea-floor.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)