Greater Mousedeer Tragulus napu at Deramakot in Sabah.
Note the “wet” nose. Scent particles stick to wet noses. The mousedeer licks the nose to pick up the scent. Animals with wet noses are highly reliant on scent to understand their environment.
Note the bare scent gland right in the middle of the chest with 5 white lines pointing like arrows to the scent gland.Mousedeer mate immediately after giving birth so that females are permanently pregnant. The scent gland may be a device used by males to scent mark females during mating. But why is the gland so visually prominent and highlighted so distinctively ?
