font settings and languages

Font Size: Large | Normal | Small
Font Face: Verdana | Geneva | Georgia
Languages:

Ovibos moschatus

(oomingmak)

Overview

[ Back to top ]

Interesting Facts

[ Back to top ]
 

Common Names

[ Back to top ]

Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Musk Ox, muskox, oomingmak

Common Names in French:

Boeuf Musqu, boeuf musqué, boeuf musqué

Description

[ Back to top ]

Physical Description

Size/Age/Growth

Body Length: 200-245 cm / 6.6-8.1 ft . Shoulder Height: 125-135 cm / 4.1-4.5 ft. Tail Length: 10-14 cm / 4-5.6 in. Weight: 180-380 kg / 396-836 lb .

Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 1,373 meters (0 to 4,505 feet).[1]

Ecology: Muskoxen are large-bodied herbivores in an environment characterized by a short and variable plant growing season (when diet quality is high) and a long winter when the availability of low quality forage is highly variable through the snow cover . Typically, muskoxen live in mixed sex and age herds or small male bachelor herds which have home ranges within which muskoxen move between seasonal ranges . Although primarily grazers adapted to a diet of sedges and grasses, muskoxen also browse shrubs and forage selectively for forbs . They calve well before snow melt so lactation is supported by the cow’s fat reserves which the cow has to replenish during the brief summer. Muskoxen have a high threshold of fat reserves before conceiving which reflects their conservative breeding strategies. Winter ranges typically have shallow snow to reduce the energetic costs of digging through snow to reach forage. Muskoxen may also be susceptible to internal parasites but their role in muskox foraging ecology and population dynamics is unknown. The implications of the low genetic variability of muskoxen are likewise unknown.[2].

List of Habitats :

Taxonomy

[ Back to top ]

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 22-Apr-2004

Similar Species

[ Back to top ]

Members of the genus Ovibos

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 3 species and subspecies in this genus:

O. moschatus (Oomingmak) · O. moschatus moschatus (Oomingmak) · O. moschatus wardi (Muskox)

More Info

[ Back to top ]

Further Reading

[ Back to top ]

Notes

[ Back to top ]

Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 26, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Mean = 414.910 meters (1,361.253 feet), Standard Deviation = 536.490 based on 44 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
  2. Gunn, A. & Forchhammer, M. 2008. Ovibos moschatus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 03 February 2012. ... [back]
Last Revised: 7/14/2012