Muskox
Ovibos moschatus (Zimmermann, 1780)
The muskox (Ovibos moschatus) is a living mammal of the family Bovidae, placed in the subfamily Antilopinae and the tribe Caprini within the order Artiodactyla. It falls in the giant size class, with a representative adult body mass of 340.5 kg.
Quick facts about the muskox
The muskox is a diurnal, terrestrial herbivore whose main foods are lichen, moss, salix arctica and woody plant. It has a gestation period of 258 days, reaches sexual maturity at 3.3 years, has a lifespan of 24 years and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
- Weight
- 312.5 kg – 340.5 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 24 years – 27.4 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- lichen, moss, salix arctica, woody plantsrc for Main food
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 258 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1.01src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 3.11 years – 3.5 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 0.8src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the muskox
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the muskox live?
Not recorded
What is the muskox?
The muskox (Ovibos moschatus) is a hoofed mammal of the family Bovidae. Native to the Arctic, it is noted for its thick coat and for the strong odor emitted by males during the seasonal rut, from which its name derives. This musky odor has the effect of attracting females during mating season. Its Inuktitut name umingmak translates to "the bearded one".
Its Woods Cree names mâthi-môs and mâthi-mostos translate to "ugly moose" and "ugly bison", respectively. Muskoxen are found primarily in Greenland, the Canadian Arctic of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, as well as Alaska. They were formerly present in Eurasia, with their youngest natural records in the region dating to around 2,700 years ago. There are reintroduced populations in the U.S. state of Alaska, the Canadian territory of Yukon, and Siberia, and an introduced population in Norway, part of which emigrated to Sweden, where a small population now lives.
From the Wikipedia article “Muskox” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Muskox&oldid=1384449988), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the muskox endangered?
The muskox is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the muskox classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderArtiodactyla
- familyBovidae
- genusOvibos
- SpeciesOvibos moschatus (Zimmermann, 1780)
Synonyms Bos moschatus
Other names and names in other languages (58)
- Musk oxEnglish
- Musk oxEnglish
- Musk-oxEnglish
- OomingmakEnglish
- OvibovineEnglish
- MuskusosAfrikaans
- MuskusbeesAfrikaans
- ثور المسكArabic
- güe almizcleruAsturian
- АўцабыкBelarusian
- ОвцебикBulgarian
- Ejen-muskBreton
- Bou mesquerCatalan
- Tur pižmovýCzech
- Pižmoň severníCzech
- Pižmoň východníCzech
- BisamochseGerman
- MoschusochseGerman
- SchafsochseGerman
- ΜοσχόβουςGreek
- Buey almizcladoSpanish
- Buey almizcleroSpanish
- Toro almizcleroSpanish
- UmingmaqCentral Yupik
- MuskusveisEstonian
- Idi musketadunBasque
- MyskihärkäFinnish
- Bœuf musquéFrench
- boeuf musquéFrench
- Boi almiscreiroGalician
- כבש המושקHebrew
- pézsmatulokHungarian
- ᐅᒥᖕᒪᒃInuktitut
- ᐅᒥᖕᒪᒃ/UmingmakInuktitut
- UmingmakInuktitut
- UmiŋmakInupiaq
- SauðnautIcelandic
- Bue muschiatoItalian
- ジャコウウシJapanese
- UmimmakKalaallisut
- 사향소Korean
- moskusfeNorwegian Bokmål
- MoskusokseNorwegian
- PiżmowółPolish
- Piżmowół arktycznyPolish
- wół piżmowyPolish
- Boi-almiscaradoPortuguese
- ОвцебыкRussian
- Мускусный БыкRussian
- Oвцебык (Ovtsebyk)Russian
- musgusNorthern Sami
- moškatno govedoSlovenian
- Bualli i myshkutAlbanian
- myskoxeSwedish
- Misk öküzüTurkish
- Misk SığırıTurkish
- ВівцебикUkrainian
- 麝牛Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the muskox
Other species in the same family Bovidae.
Water buffalo
Bubalus bubalis
African buffalo
Syncerus caffer
Impala
Aepyceros melampus
Chamois
Rupicapra rupicapra
Aurochs
Bos primigenius
Saiga antelope
Saiga tatarica
CompareMuskox vs Water buffaloMuskox vs African buffaloMuskox vs ImpalaMuskox vs Chamois
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the muskox?
The muskox is a mammal in the family Bovidae, order Artiodactyla, belonging to the subfamily Antilopinae and tribe Caprini.
How heavy is a muskox?
A muskox has a representative adult body mass of 340.5 kg, which places it in the giant size class.
What does the muskox eat?
The muskox is a herbivore. Its main foods are lichen, moss, salix arctica and woody plant.
Is the muskox endangered?
No. The muskox is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a muskox live?
The muskox has a lifespan of 24 years, with values up to 27.4 years reported.
How many young does a muskox have?
A muskox has 1.01 young per litter and 0.8 litters per year, after a gestation period of 258 days.
When does a muskox reach sexual maturity?
A muskox reaches sexual maturity at 3.3 years, with reported values from 3.1 to 3.5 years.
Who named the muskox?
The muskox was named Ovibos moschatus by Zimmermann in 1780, with the authority written as (Zimmermann, 1780).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Muskox (Ovibos moschatus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/muskox
“Muskox (Ovibos moschatus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/muskox.
@misc{muskox_2026,
title = {Muskox (Ovibos moschatus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/muskox},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}