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Description
Common Name: Moose Chevrotain

Scientific Name: Alecschiola palus

Length: 1.8 to 2.4 meters

Weight: 270 to 450 kilograms

Diet: Aquatic grasses, leaves, twigs, and sometimes fruit

Distribution: The swampy areas of the Southern Indian Grassland in Asia

Lifespan: 15 to 20 years

Description: The moose chevrotain is a species of chevrotain that has evolved from a semi-aquatic browsing lifestyle. This animal is descended from one of the species of small chevrotains that lived in the Indian subcontinent 40 million years ago. With the disappearance of most large herbivores, the small chevrotains were able to take up some of the niches that the extinct animals once held. Also, the changing environment opened up new niches that weren’t previously there.
The moose chevrotain is light-brown in color with dark-brown colors on the ears and tail of the chevrotain. The fur of the chevrotain consists of two layers, a layer of hollow thin hairs that keep it afloat when swimming and the undercoat which protects it from sunlight and keeps it warm during the rainy season. The fangs on the face are used for sexual display and are only found on the males. The males with the largest fangs are the ones who usually get the females. Its mouth is an adaptation for eating the aquatic plants that surround its environment.
The moose chevrotain has an interesting relationship with a species of horsehair worm that lives on the grass that they eat. Once the female parasitic worm gets into the chevrotain’s digestive system, the worm releases its eggs in the intestines so they can be swept up by the gut contents, the parent worm dying in the process. Once the chevrotain releases its excrement, the young horsehair worms will lay dormant and wait from a dung beetle to come along and eat the liquid of the dung. The juvenile worm will then grow inside their body and force the beetle to entire water. The worm will exit the body after the beetle dies and attempt to find a mate. The female worms will find a blade of grass and rest on it, waiting for a chevrotain to eat that blade of grass, repeating the process.

Description
Common Name: Moose Chevrotain

Scientific Name: Alecschiola palus

Length: 1.8 to 2.4 meters

Weight: 270 to 450 kilograms

Diet: Aquatic grasses, leaves, twigs, and sometimes fruit

Distribution: The swampy areas of the Southern Indian Grassland in Asia

Lifespan: 15 to 20 years

Description: The moose chevrotain is a species of chevrotain that has evolved from a semi-aquatic browsing lifestyle. This animal is descended from one of the species of small chevrotains that lived in the Indian subcontinent 40 million years ago. With the disappearance of most large herbivores, the small chevrotains were able to take up some of the niches that the extinct animals once held. Also, the changing environment opened up new niches that weren’t previously there.
The moose chevrotain is light-brown in color with dark-brown colors on the ears and tail of the chevrotain. The fur of the chevrotain consists of two layers, a layer of hollow thin hairs that keep it afloat when swimming and the undercoat which protects it from sunlight and keeps it warm during the rainy season. The fangs on the face are used for sexual display and are only found on the males. The males with the largest fangs are the ones who usually get the females. Its mouth is an adaptation for eating the aquatic plants that surround its environment.
The moose chevrotain has an interesting relationship with a species of horsehair worm that lives on the grass that they eat. Once the female parasitic worm gets into the chevrotain’s digestive system, the worm releases its eggs in the intestines so they can be swept up by the gut contents, the parent worm dying in the process. Once the chevrotain releases its excrement, the young horsehair worms will lay dormant and wait from a dung beetle to come along and eat the liquid of the dung. The juvenile worm will then grow inside their body and force the beetle to entire water. The worm will exit the body after the beetle dies and attempt to find a mate. The female worms will find a blade of grass and rest on it, waiting for a chevrotain to eat that blade of grass, repeating the process.