| Jentink's duiker | |
|---|---|
_Cephalophus_jentinki_2.jpg) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Bovidae |
| Genus: | Cephalophus |
| Species: | C. jentinki |
| Binomial name | |
| Cephalophus jentinki Thomas, 1892 | |
 | |
| Distribution of Jentink's duiker | |
Jentink's duiker (Cephalophus jentinki), also known asgidi-gidi inKrio andkaikulowulei inMende, is a forest-dwellingduiker found in the southern parts ofLiberia, southwesternCôte d'Ivoire, and scattered enclaves inSierra Leone. It is named in honor ofFredericus Anna Jentink.
Jentink's duikers stand around 80 cm (31 in) tall at the shoulder and weigh about 70 kg (150 lb), making them the largest species of the duikers. They are gray from the shoulders back and dark black from the shoulders forward.[3] A white band goes over the shoulders, between the two colours and joining the white undersides. Jentink's duikers have long, thin horns, which curl back a little at the ends, and reach between 14 and 21 cm (5.5 and 8.3 in).
Jentink's duikers live mainly in very thickrainforest, where they eatfruit,flowers, andleaves which have fallen from thecanopy, as well asstems of seedlings,roots, and, to the annoyance of local farmers, palm nuts, mangos, and cocoa pods. They arenocturnal and shelter during the day in dense thickets, or buttress roots, apparently in pairs. Jentink's duikers are reported to be territorial animals, and when frightened, will run very quickly, but wear themselves out easily.
The species was first recognized as a new species in 1884, though it was not described until 1892.[3] The species then vanished until a skull was found in Liberia in 1948. Sightings have occurred in its habitat since the 1960s. In 1971, the species was successfully bred in theGladys Porter Zoo.[3]
Recent population numbers are not available. In 1999 it was estimated that around 3,500 Jentink's duikers remained in the wild, but the following year others suggested less than 2,000 were likely to remain.[1] They are threatened primarily byhabitat destruction and commercialbushmeat hunters.[3]
| Phylogenetic relationships of Jentink's duiker (Johnston et.al. 2012) |
It is classified under the genusCephalophus and the familyBovidae. It was firstdescribed by British zoologistOldfield Thomas in 1892 in theProceedings of the Zoological Society of London.[4] Thegeneric name probably comes from the combination of theNew Latin wordcephal, meaning head, and theGreek wordlophos, meaning crest.[5] The word "duiker" comes from the Afrikaans wordduik, or Dutchdūken - both mean "diver".[6]
A 2001phylogenetic study dividedCephalophus into three distinct lineages: the giant duikers, east African red duikers and west African red duikers. Jentink's duiker was classified as a giant duiker along with theyellow-backed duiker (C. silvicultor),Abbott's duiker (C. spadix), and thebay duiker (C. dorsalis).[7] In 2012, Anne R. Johnston (of theUniversity of Orleans) and colleagues constructed a cladogram of thesubfamily Cephalophinae (duiker) based onmitochondrial analysis. They showed that within the "giant duiker" group, Jentink's duiker formed a clade with the bay duiker, and thezebra duiker is sister to this clade. Similarly, Abbott's duiker and yellow-backed duiker form a clade sister toSylvicapra. Jentink's duiker and the bay duiker probably evolved during thePleistocene, less than 2.5 million years ago.[8]
