''Tragulus'' is a genus of

even-toed ungulate The even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla , ) are ungulates—hoofed animals—which bear weight equally on two (an even number) of their five toes: the third and fourth. The other three toes are either present, absent, vestigial, or pointing poster ...

s in the family

Tragulidae The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often v ...

that are known as mouse-deer. In

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

τράγος (''tragos'') means a male

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of ...

, while the Latin diminutive ''–ulus'' means 'tiny'. With a weight of and a length of , they are the smallest

ungulate Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Ungulata which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. These include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraff ...

s in the world, though the largest species of mouse-deer surpass some species of ''

Neotragus ''Neotragus'' is a genus of dwarf antelope, native to Africa. The genus includes only a single species without any dispute, namely '' Neotragus pygmaeus''. Neotragus pygmaeus is the smallest antelope in the world, they usually weigh around 5 to ...

'' antelopes in size.Nowak, R. M. (eds) (1999). ''Walker's Mammals of the World.'' 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press. The mouse-deer are restricted to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

from far southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

(south

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...

) to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

( Balabac) and

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

. Following recent taxonomic changes, several of the species in this genus are poorly known, but all are believed to be mainly

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sen ...

and feed on leaves, fruits, grasses, and other vegetation in the dense forest undergrowth. They are solitary or live in pairs, and the males have elongated

canine teeth In mammalian oral anatomy, the canine teeth, also called cuspids, dog teeth, or (in the context of the upper jaw) fangs, eye teeth, vampire teeth, or vampire fangs, are the relatively long, pointed teeth. They can appear more flattened however, ...

(neither gender has horns or antlers) that are used in fights. Unlike other members of their family, the ''Tragulus'' mouse-deer lack obvious pale stripes/spots on their upper parts.

Taxonomy

Traditionally, only two species of mouse-deer in the genus ''Tragulus'' have been recognized: The relatively large ''T. napu'' and the small ''T. javanicus''. Following a review in 2004, ''T. nigricans'' and ''T. versicolor'' were

split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entert ...

from ''T. napu'', and ''T. kanchil'' and ''T. williamsoni'' were split from ''T. javanicus''.Meijaard, I., and C. P. Groves (2004). ''A taxonomic revision of the Tragulus mouse-deer.'' Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 140: 63-102. With these changes, ''T. kanchil'' and ''T. napu'' are the most widespread species, while the remaining have far smaller distributions (though some uncertainty over the exact distribution limits of the various species in

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

remain). *

Java mouse-deer The Java mouse-deer (''Tragulus javanicus'') is a species of even-toed ungulate in the family Tragulidae. When it reaches maturity it is about the size of a rabbit, making it the smallest living ungulate. It is found in forests in Java and perhap ...

(''Tragulus javanicus'') * Lesser mouse-deer (''Tragulus kanchil'') * Greater mouse-deer (''Tragulus napu'') * Philippine mouse-deer (''Tragulus nigricans'') * Vietnam mouse-deer (''Tragulus versicolor'') * Williamson's mouse-deer (''Tragulus williamsoni'')

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1987747 Chevrotains Mammal genera Taxa named by Mathurin Jacques Brisson Taxonomy articles created by Polbot eo:Tragoledoj