Editing Musk deer (section)

{{Short description|Genus of mammals}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Musk deer
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Late Miocene|recent}}
| image = Musk deer in Edinburgh Zoo.jpg
| image_caption = [[Siberian musk deer]]
| parent_authority = [[John Edward Gray|Gray]], 1821
| taxon = Moschus
| authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]
| type_species = ''[[Moschus moschiferus]]''
| type_species_authority = [[Linnaeus]], 1758
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = *''[[Moschus anhuiensis|M. anhuiensis]]'' – Anhui musk deer
*''[[Moschus berezovskii|M. berezovskii]]'' – Dwarf musk deer
*''[[Moschus chrysogaster|M. chrysogaster]]'' – Alpine musk deer
*''[[Moschus cupreus|M. cupreus]]'' – Kashmir musk deer
*''[[Moschus fuscus|M. fuscus]]'' – Black musk deer
*''[[Moschus leucogaster|M. leucogaster]]'' – White-bellied musk deer
*''[[Moschus moschiferus|M. moschiferus]]'' – Siberian musk deer
}}

'''Musk deer''' can refer to any one, or all eight, of the species that make up '''''Moschus''''', the only extant genus of the [[family (biology)|family]] [[Moschidae]].<ref>{{cite web | publisher = University of Michigan Museum of Zoology | work = Animal Diversity Web | title = Moschus (musk deer) Classification | url = http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/classification/Moschus.html#Moschus }}</ref> Despite being commonly called deer, they are not true deer belonging to the family [[Cervidae]], but rather their family is closely related to [[Bovidae]], the group that contains antelopes, bovines, sheep, and goats. The musk deer family differs from cervids, or true deer, by lacking [[antler]]s and [[preorbital gland]]s also, possessing only a single pair of [[nipple|teats]], a [[gallbladder]],<ref>{{Cite web|date=1875|title=On the structure and affinities of the musk-deer (''Moschus mosciferus'', Linn.)|url=https://archive.org/details/b22455310/mode/2up?q=gall}}</ref> a [[caudal gland]], a pair of canine [[tusk]]s and&mdash;of particular economic importance to humans&mdash;a [[deer musk|musk]] gland.

Musk deer live mainly in forested and alpine scrub habitats in the mountains of [[South Asia]], notably the [[Himalayas]]. Moschids, the proper term when referring to this [[type (biology)|type]] of deer rather than one/multiple species of musk deer, are entirely Asian in their present distribution, being extinct in Europe where the earliest musk deer are known to have existed from [[Oligocene]] deposits.