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duiker

 
Dictionary: dui·ker   (dī'kər) pronunciation
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n.
Any of various small African antelopes of the genera Cephalophus or Sylvicapra, having short, backward-pointing horns.

[Afrikaans, from Dutch duiken, to dive, from Middle Dutch dūken.]


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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: duiker
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Zebra duiker (Cephalophus zebra).
(click to enlarge)
Zebra duiker (Cephalophus zebra). (credit: Kenneth W. Fink — The National Audubon Society Collection/Photo Researchers)
Any of 19 species of small, shy antelope. They live in most of Africa but are rarely seen by humans. The gray, or bush, duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia) has long legs and lives where there is bush or grass cover. It stands 22 – 26 in. (57 – 67 cm) tall at the shoulder. Only males have horns, which are short and straight. Forest duikers (18 species, genus Cephalophus) are short-legged, hunchbacked animals that live in dense brush and in forests. They stand 14 – 18 in. (36 – 46 cm) tall and vary from pale brown through reddish brown to nearly black. Both sexes have short, straight horns.

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Columbia Encyclopedia: duiker
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duiker (dī'kər, dā'-), name for members of a group of small, light antelopes, found in thick brush and forest over most of Africa. All stand under 25 in. (64 cm) high at the shoulder. They have arched backs, pointed faces, and short, sharp, straight horns; in most species the horns are present in both sexes. Solitary, mostly nocturnal animals, they dive into the brush when threatened; duiker means "diver" in Afrikaans. Although primarily browsers, they are less exclusively vegetarian than other antelopes. Their diet includes grasses, leaves, twigs, insects, and snails. The gray, or common, duiker, Sylvicapra grimmia, is found from Ethiopia to the Cape of Good Hope and W to Senegal. It stands up to 25 in. and weighs up to 30 lb (14 kg). The local races vary in color from fawn to bluish gray. Females are usually hornless. The many kinds of forest duiker and blue duiker are species of the genus Cephalophus. The blue duikers, found in W and central Africa, stand only 14 in. (36 cm) at the shoulder. Duikers are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Artiodactyla, family Bovidae.

Wikipedia: Duiker
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Duikers
Fossil range: Late Miocene to Recent

Maxwell's Duiker, Cephalophus maxwellii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Cephalophinae
Gray, 1871
Genera

Cephalophus
Philantomba
Sylvicapra

A duiker (pronounced /ˈdaɪkər/) is any of about 19 small to medium-sized antelope species from the subfamily Cephalophinae native to Sub-Saharan Africa.

Common Duiker.

Duikers are shy and elusive creatures with a fondness for dense cover; most are forest dwellers and even the species living in more open areas are quick to disappear into thickets. Their name comes from the Afrikaans/Dutch word for diver and refers to their practice of diving into tangles of shrubbery.

With a slightly arched body and the front legs a little shorter than the hind legs, they are well-shaped to penetrate thickets. They are primarily browsers rather than grazers, eating leaves, shoots, seeds, fruit, buds and bark, and often follow flocks of birds or troops of monkeys to take advantage of the fruit they drop. They supplement their diet with meat: duikers take insects and carrion from time to time, and even stalk and capture rodents or small birds. The Blue Duiker has a fondness for ants.

Species

References


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Duiker".  Read more