A duiker is any of 17 or 18 species of African forest-dwelling antelopes in the tribe Cephalophini. The name duiker comes from the Afrikaans word duikerbok ("diving buck"), describing how they dive into hiding when startled. Duikers are similar in appearance, save for size. They have compact bodies, short necks, sturdy legs, short tails, and cryptic coloring. Unique traits include an erectile tuft of hair on the crown and preorbital glands on their cheeks. They range in size from the blue duiker, standing 36 cm (14 inches) high at the shoulder and weighing about 5 kg (11 pounds), to the yellow-backed duiker, which stands up to 87 cm (34 inches) high and weighs 80 kg (180 pounds).

Where do duikers live?

Duikers, a tribe of 17 or 18 antelope species, are native to Africa . These forest-dwelling creatures can only be found on this continent. The bush, or gray, duiker is an exception, as it lives in the savanna biome. These antelopes favor closed habitats, such as forests, and depend on hiding to escape from predators. The ability of duikers to utilize fruits, flowers, and leaves that fall from the canopy has enabled them to exploit African forests by evolving into different species that are specialized to subsist in virtually every type of wooded habitat.

What do duikers look like?

Duikers are African forest-dwelling antelopes, varying in size from 36 cm to 87 cm at the shoulder. They have compact bodies, short necks, sturdy legs, short tails, and cryptic coloration, often grizzled. Their hindquarters are more developed than their forequarters. Key features include an erectile tuft of hair on the crown and preorbital glands on their cheeks. Both sexes typically have short, straight, back-slanting horns, though these are absent in female bush duikers and some blue duikers. They move stealthily and can "freeze" mid-stride.

Duikers are African forest-dwelling antelopes that are part of the tribe Cephalophini. Their diet consists primarily of fruits, flowers, and leaves that fall from the forest canopy, which allows them to thrive in African forests. While fruit is a major component of their diet, larger duikers consume more foliage. They also eat roots, fungi, rotten wood, insects, and occasionally birds and other small vertebrates.

How do duikers protect themselves from danger?

Duikers, forest-dwelling antelopes found only in Africa, have several adaptations to protect themselves from danger. Like most antelopes that live in closed habitats, duikers rely on concealment to evade predators. They have compact bodies, short necks, sturdy, short legs and cryptic coloration. When duikers are flushed from hiding, they make a sudden headlong flight. They move stealthily, lifting each leg high, and often freeze in mid-stride.

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Related Topics:: white-bellied duiker; forest duiker; Peters’ duiker; blue duiker; yellow-backed duiker

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duiker

mammal

Also known as: Cephalophini

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Richard Estes

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What is a duiker?
A duiker is any of 17 or 18 species of African forest-dwelling antelopes in the tribe Cephalophini. The name duiker comes from the Afrikaans word duikerbok ("diving buck"), describing how they dive into hiding when startled.

Duikers are similar in appearance, save for size. They have compact bodies, short necks, sturdy legs, short tails, and cryptic coloring. Unique traits include an erectile tuft of hair on the crown and preorbital glands on their cheeks. They range in size from the blue duiker, standing 36 cm (14 inches) high at the shoulder and weighing about 5 kg (11 pounds), to the yellow-backed duiker, which stands up to 87 cm (34 inches) high and weighs 80 kg (180 pounds).
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Where do duikers live?
Duikers, a tribe of 17 or 18 antelope species, are native to Africa. These forest-dwelling creatures can only be found on this continent. The bush, or gray, duiker is an exception, as it lives in the savanna biome. These antelopes favor closed habitats, such as forests, and depend on hiding to escape from predators. The ability of duikers to utilize fruits, flowers, and leaves that fall from the canopy has enabled them to exploit African forests by evolving into different species that are specialized to subsist in virtually every type of wooded habitat.
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What do duikers look like?
Duikers are African forest-dwelling antelopes, varying in size from 36 cm to 87 cm at the shoulder. They have compact bodies, short necks, sturdy legs, short tails, and cryptic coloration, often grizzled. Their hindquarters are more developed than their forequarters. Key features include an erectile tuft of hair on the crown and preorbital glands on their cheeks. Both sexes typically have short, straight, back-slanting horns, though these are absent in female bush duikers and some blue duikers. They move stealthily and can "freeze" mid-stride.
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What do duikers eat?
Duikers are African forest-dwelling antelopes that are part of the tribe Cephalophini. Their diet consists primarily of fruits, flowers, and leaves that fall from the forest canopy, which allows them to thrive in African forests. While fruit is a major component of their diet, larger duikers consume more foliage. They also eat roots, fungi, rotten wood, insects, and occasionally birds and other small vertebrates.
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How do duikers protect themselves from danger?
Duikers, forest-dwelling antelopes found only in Africa, have several adaptations to protect themselves from danger. Like most antelopes that live in closed habitats, duikers rely on concealment to evade predators. They have compact bodies, short necks, sturdy, short legs and cryptic coloration.

When duikers are flushed from hiding, they make a sudden headlong flight. They move stealthily, lifting each leg high, and often freeze in mid-stride.
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What are some different species of duikers and how do they differ?
Duikers, forest-dwelling antelopes found only in Africa, include 17 or 18 species. Size ranges from the blue duiker, 36 cm high at the shoulder and weighing about 5 kg, to the yellow-backed duiker, up to 87 cm high at the shoulder and weighing 80 kg.

When different species share the same forest, those of similar size minimize competition by occupying different micro-habitats or being active at different times. For example, in the primary rainforest of Gabon, the black-fronted duiker has elongated hooves adapted to swampy forests, and the bay duiker is nocturnal, while Peters’ duiker is active during the day. Most duikers are active during the day.
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duiker, (tribe Cephalophini), any of 17 or 18 species of forest-dwelling antelopes (subfamily Cephalophinae, family Bovidae) found only in Africa. Duiker derives from the Afrikaans duikerbok (“diving buck”), which describes the sudden headlong flight of duikers flushed from hiding.

No other tribe of African antelopes contains so many species, yet duikers are so similar except in size that 16 species are placed in the same genus, Cephalophus. Only the bush, or gray, duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia), which is adapted to the savanna biome, is placed in a separate genus.

Like most antelopes that live in closed habitats and rely on concealment to evade predators, duikers are compact and short-necked. Their hindquarters are more developed and higher than their forequarters. Duikers have sturdy, short legs, short tails, and fairly uniform, cryptic coloration. Most have grizzled (banded) hair. They move stealthily, lifting each leg high, and often “freeze” in mid-stride. The head is proportionally large with small ears, a wide mouth, and a bare, moist muffle. Two distinctive duiker traits are the erectile tuft of hair on the crown (Cephalophus means “head crest”) and preorbital (cheek) glands that open into a horizontal slit and are present in both sexes. Gender differences are minimal: both sexes possess short, straight, back-slanting horns (absent in female bush duikers and some blue duikers), and females are often a bit larger than males.

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Size ranges from that of the blue duiker (C. monticola), one of the smallest antelopes, only 36 cm (14 inches) high at the shoulder and weighing about 5 kg (11 pounds), to that of the yellow-backed duiker (C. silvicultor), up to 87 cm (34 inches) high at the shoulder and weighing 80 kg (180 pounds). It appears that the structure of the forest undergrowth selects for shoulder heights that enable duikers and other forest ungulates to move through or beneath the vegetation with minimal interference. When a number of different species share the same forest, those of similar size minimize competition by occupying different micro-habitats or being active at different times. For example, in the primary rainforest of Gabon, there are four duikers of similar size: the black-fronted duiker (C. nigrifons), Peters’ duiker (C. callipygus), bay duiker (C. dorsalis), and white-bellied duiker (C. leucogaster). The white-bellied duiker prefers broken-canopy and secondary forest with dense undergrowth, the black-fronted duiker has elongated hooves adapted to the swampy forest it prefers, and the bay duiker is nocturnal, lying low during the day while the Peters’ duiker is active. (Most duikers are active during the day.)

In closed-canopy forest, growth is sparse on the floor except where sunlight penetrates through gaps in the canopy. It is the duikers’ ability to utilize the fruits, flowers, and leaves that rain down from the canopy that has enabled this tribe to exploit African forests by evolving different species that are specialized to subsist in virtually every type of wooded habitat. Fruit is a major component of every species’ diet, although larger duikers eat more foliage. Duikers also eat flowers, roots, fungi, rotten wood, insects, and even birds and other small vertebrates.

Duikers live in monogamous pairs that jointly mark and defend their home range as a territory. Some duikers have a gestation of about five months, so they could produce two young a year. Some forest duikers may only reproduce annually.

Richard Estes

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