Muntjac

Muntjac
Temporal range: Miocene to present
Male muntjac in Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, India
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Cervidae
Tribe: Muntiacini
Genus: Muntiacus
Rafinesque, 1815
Type species
Cervus muntjak
Zimmerman, 1780
      native (Asia) and exotic (Great Britain) ranges of genus Muntiacus

Muntjacs (/mʌntæk/ MUNT-jak), also known as the barking deer or rib-faced deer, are small deer of the genus Muntiacus native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Muntjacs are thought to have begun appearing 15–35 million years ago, with remains found in Miocene deposits in France, Germany and Poland. Most are listed as least-concern species or Data Deficient by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), although others such as the black muntjac, Bornean yellow muntjac, and giant muntjac are vulnerable, near threatened, and critically endangered, respectively.