''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
Latin diminutive
The Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the ...
''–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
''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 7 ...
'' 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
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(south
Yunnan) to the
Philippines (
Balabac) and
Java.
[
Following recent ]taxonomic
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
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 sens ...
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 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
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
The lesser mouse-deer, lesser Malay chevrotain, or kanchil (''Tragulus kanchil'') is a species of even-toed ungulate in the family Tragulidae.
Distribution
The lesser mouse-deer is found widely across Southeast Asia in Indochina, Myanmar (Kra I ...
(''Tragulus kanchil'')
* Greater mouse-deer (''Tragulus napu'')
* Philippine mouse-deer
The Philippine mouse-deer (''Tragulus nigricans''), also known as the Balabac chevrotain or ''pilandok'' (in Filipino), is a small, nocturnal ruminant, which is endemic to Balabac and nearby smaller islands (Bugsuk and Ramos) southwest of Palaw ...
(''Tragulus nigricans'')
* Vietnam mouse-deer
The Vietnam mouse-deer (''Tragulus versicolor''), also known as the silver-backed chevrotain, is an even-toed ungulate in the family Tragulidae known only from Vietnam. It was first described in 1910 by British zoologist Oldfield Thomas, who ...
(''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
