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Taxonomy:
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Artidactyla
Sub-order:
Ruminantia
Family:
Traguilidae
The family Tragulidae, (also known as chevrotains or mouse-deer) are small ungulates. There are ten extant species are in three genera found in forests in South and Southeast Asia, with a single species in the rain forests of Central and West Africa.
They are solitary or live in pairs, and feed almost exclusively on plant material. The Asian species weigh between 1.5 and 17.6 pounds, and include the smallest ungulates in the world. The single African species, chevrotain (French: litle goat) is considerably larger at 15 to 35 pounds.
The family is widespread and successful from the Oligocene (34 million years ago) through the Miocene (about 5 million years ago), but has remained almost unchanged over that time and remains as an example of primitive ruminant form. They have four-chambered stomachs to ferment tough plant foods, but the third chamber is poorly developed.
Though most species feed exclusively on plant material, the water chevrotain occasionally takes insects and crabs, or scavenges meat and fish. Like other ruminants, they lack upper incisors. They give birth to only a single young.
(m3an-chm-unge-tr-mousedeer) The Traqulidae
photo credit:mamiferosdomundo.blogspot.com
Genus:
Hyemoschus
Species:
H. aquaticus
Water Chevrotain, Tropical Africa
This is the only species in the genus Hyemoschus. It is the largest of the
10 species of chevrotains, basal even-toed ungulates which are visually
similar to deer, but are barely larger than small dogs.
Genus:
Moschiola
Spotted chevrotain
Species:
M. meminna
Sri Lankan spotted chevrotain, drier areas
Species:
M. indica
Indian spotted chevrotain, S. Asia to Nepal
Species:
M. kathygre
Yellow-striped chevrotain, humid Sri Lanka
The genus Moschiola are the spotted chevrotain found in the forests
of India, Sri Lanka and possibly Nepal.
Genus:
Tragulus
Species:
T. javanicus
Java mouse-deer
Species:
T. Kenchil
Lesser mouse-deer
Species:
T. napu
Greater mouse-deer
Species:
T. nigricans
Philippine mouse-deer
Species:
T. versicolor
Vietnam mouse-deer
Species:
T. williamson
Williamson′s mouse-deer
Tragulus is from the ancient Greek words tragos, meaning a male goat
and ulus, meaning tiny. The mouse-deer are restricted to Southeast
Asia from far southern China (south Yunnan) to the Phillippins and Java.
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