''Tragulus'' is a genus of even-toed ungulates in the family Tragulidae that are known as mouse-deer. In Ancient Greek τράγος (''tragos'') means a male goat, while the List of diminutives by language#Latin, Latin diminutive ''–ulus'' means 'tiny'. With a weight of and a length of , they are the smallest ungulates in the world, though the largest species of mouse-deer surpass some species of ''Neotragus'' 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 from far southern China (south Yunnan) to the Philippines (Balabac, Palawan, Balabac) and Java. Following recent Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic changes, several of the species in this genus are poorly known, but all are believed to be mainly nocturnal 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 (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 Lumpers and splitters, split 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 remain). * Java mouse-deer (''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 Tragulus, Chevrotains Mammal genera Taxa named by Mathurin Jacques Brisson Taxonomy articles created by Polbot eo:Tragoledoj