Musk ox

Musk oxen, large shaggy ruminants of the Arctic, are best known for their soft underwool, or qiviut. The musk ox Ovibos moschatus lives on Canada’s arctic tundra. Superficially the musk ox resembles the bison: humped shoulders and a long black coat accentuate the shortness of its legs. In fact, it is more closely related to sheep and goats.

Musk oxen could not survive in the Arctic’s subzero temperatures without their super-thick, hairy coats. Every part of a musk ox’s skin, except for its lips and nostrils, is protected from the cold by fur.

A musk ox's coat has two layers. The long, shaggy, brown outer coat is made up of tough hairs known as guard hairs. The wool, or "qiviut," is stronger than sheep’s wool, eight times warmer, and finer than cashmere. The coarser hairy layer that covers and protects the wool grows to be the longest hair of any mammal in North America. The Inuit name for musk ox is omingmak, "the animal with skin like a beard."

A male musk ox can weigh between 500 and 900 pounds and stands about 5 feet tall at the shoulder. Females range between 300 and 700 pounds. They eat low shrubs and small woody plants that can be found on the tundra.
Musk ox