Chevrotain

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the deer. For the French commune, see Chevrotaine.
Not to be confused with Chevrotin.
"Kancil" redirects here. For the car, see Perodua Kancil.

Chevrotain
Temporal range: late Eocene–Recent
Tragulus kanchil
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Suborder: Ruminantia
Infraorder: Tragulina
Family: Tragulidae
H. Milne-Edwards, 1864
Type genus
Tragulus
Brisson, 1762
Genera

Chevrotains, or mouse-deer, are diminutive,

solitary, or live in loose groupings or pairs, and feed almost exclusively on plant material.[4] Chevrotains are the smallest hoofed mammals in the world. The Asian species weigh between 0.7 and 8.0 kg (1+1⁄2 and 17+3⁄4 lb), while the African chevrotain is considerably larger, at 7–16 kg (15–35 lb).[5] With an average length of 45 cm (18 in) and an average height of 30 cm (12 in), the Java mouse-deer is the smallest surviving ungulate (hoofed) mammal, as well as the smallest artiodactyl (even-toed ungulate).[6]
Despite their common name of "mouse deer", they are not closely related to true deer.

In November 2019, conservation scientists announced that they had photographed

silver-backed chevrotains (Tragulus versicolor) in a Vietnamese forest for the first time since the last confirmed sightings in 1990.[7][8][9]

Etymology

The word "chevrotain" comes from the Middle French word chevrot (kid or fawn), derived from chèvre (goat).[10]

The single African species is consistently known as "chevrotain".[1][4][11] The names "chevrotain" and "mouse-deer" have been used interchangeably among the Asian species,[4][12][13][14] though recent authorities typically have preferred chevrotain for the species in the genus Moschiola and mouse-deer for the species in the genus Tragulus.[1] Consequently, all species with pale-spotted or -striped upper parts are known as "chevrotain" and without are known as "mouse-deer".

The Telugu name for the Indian spotted chevrotain is jarini pandi, which literally means "a deer and a pig".[citation needed] In Kannada, it is called barka (ಬರ್ಕ), in Malayalam, it is called കൂരമാൻ kūramān, and the Konkani name for it is barinka. The Tamil term is சருகு மான் sarukumāṉ "leaf-pile deer". The Sinhala name meeminna roughly translates to "mouse-like deer". This was used in the scientific name of the Sri Lankan spotted chevrotain, M. meminna.

Biology

The family was widespread and successful from the

scavenges meat and fish.[17] Like other ruminants, they lack upper incisors
. They give birth to only a single young.

In other respects, however, they have primitive features, closer to nonruminants such as pigs. All species in the family lack antlers and horns, but both sexes have elongated

sexual behaviour and copulation.[19][18]

Mating mouse-deer

They are solitary or live in pairs.

marking territory. Their territories are relatively small, on the order of 13–24 hectares (32–59 acres), but neighbors generally ignore each other, rather than compete aggressively.[18]

Some of the species show a remarkable affinity with water, often remaining submerged for prolonged periods to evade predators or other unwelcome intrusions. This has also lent support to the idea that whales evolved from water-loving creatures that looked like small deer.[20][21]

Taxonomy

Tragulidae's placement within

Artiodactyla can be represented in the following cladogram:[22][23][24][25][26]

Artiodactyla
 

Tylopoda (camels)

 Artiofabula 

  Suina (pigs)

 Cetruminantia 
 
Ruminantia
 (ruminants) 

 Tragulidae (mouse deer)

 Pecora (horn bearers)

 
Cetancodonta/Whippomorpha
 

 Hippopotamidae (hippopotamuses)

 Cetacea (whales)

Traditionally, only four

extant species were recognized in the family Tragulidae.[4] In 2004, T. nigricans and T. versicolor were split from T. napu, and T. kanchil and T. williamsoni were split from T. javanicus.[27] In 2005, M. indica and M. kathygre were split from M. meminna.[2]
With these changes, the 10 extant species are:

Indian spotted chevrotain
Tragulus sp.[a]

Ancient chevrotains

Reconstruction of Dorcatherium by Heinrich Harder.

The Hypertragulidae were closely related to the Tragulidae.

The six extinct chevrotain genera[3] include:

The extinct chevrotains might also include[31][32]

Mythology

The Coat of arms of Malacca depicts two mouse deer as allusion to the founding legend of Malacca.

According to the Malay Annals, King Parameswara, seeking a place to found a new city, came to a place where he saw a mouse deer kicking his hunting dog into the water. He thought this boded well, remarking, 'this place is excellent, even the mouse deer is formidable; it is best that we establish a kingdom here'. He then founded there the city of Malacca.[citation needed] In memory of this founding legend, the Coat of arms of Malacca depicts two mouse deer.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Changing taxonomy in the genus Tragulus make exact species identification uncertain, but either T. javanicus or T. kanchil. Note also the contradicting English and scientific names on the sign on the photo.

References

  1. ^
    OCLC 62265494
    .
  2. ^ a b Groves, C.; Meijaard, E. (2005). "Intraspecific variation in Moschiola, the Indian chevrotain". The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. Supplement 12: 413–421.
  3. ^ a b Farooq, U.; Khan, M.A.; Akhtar, M.; Khan, A.M. (2008). "Lower dentition of Dorcatherium majus (Tragulidae, Mammalia) in the Lower and Middle Siwaliks (Miocene) of Pakistan" (PDF). Tur. J. Zool. 32: 91–98. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2011.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Nowak, R.M., ed. (1999). Walker's Mammals of the World (6th ed.). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  5. ^ "Hyemoschus aquaticus". Ultimate Ungulate. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  6. PMID 8771414
    .
  7. ^ Chappell, Bill (11 November 2019). "Silver-Backed Chevrotain, with Fangs and Hooves, Photographed In Wild for First Time". NPR. NPR.org. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  8. ^ Nguyen, An (11 November 2019). "Camera-trap evidence that the silver-backed chevrotain Tragulus versicolor remains in the wild in Vietnam". Nature.com. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  9. ^ "Tiny deer-like animal spotted after 25 years" (Video). CNN. 11 Nov 2019.
  10. ^ "Chevrotain". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  11. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T10341A50188841.en
    . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  12. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T136585A61979067.en
    . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  13. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T136799A61979620.en
    . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  14. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T41779A73575223.en
    . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  15. PMC 2100259
    .
  16. PMID 18426746
    .
  17. ISBN 0-12-408355-2
    .
  18. ^
    ISBN 978-0-87196-871-5
    .
  19. ISBN 978-0-8117-0496-0
    .
  20. ^ Walker, M. (7 July 2009). "Aquatic deer and ancient whales". BBC News. Retrieved 26 March 2010.
  21. doi:10.1016/j.mambio.2009.05.007
    .
  22. PMID 17101039
    .
  23. S2CID 206544776
    .
  24. PMID 22930817
    .
  25. PMID 22628470
    .
  26. PMID 31800571
    .(see e.g. Fig S10)
  27. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2004.00091.x
    .
  28. ^ Thenius, E. (1950). "Über die Sichtung und Bearbeitung der jungtertiären Säugetierreste aus dem Hausruck und Kobernaußerwald (O.Ö.)". Verh. Geol. B.-A. 51 (2): 56.
  29. S2CID 303897
    .
  30. S2CID 85647031. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 22 July 2011.
  31. ISBN 978-0-7637-6299-5
    . Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  32. doi:10.4202/app.2009.0087
    .
  33. ^ "Krabitherium". Paleobiology Database (Paleodb.org). Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  34. ^ Mennecart, B., Wazir, W.A., Sehgal, R.K., Patnaik, R., Singh, N.P., Kumar, N. and Nanda, A.C., 2021. New remains of Nalamaeryx (Tragulidae, Mammalia) from the Ladakh Himalaya and their phylogenetical and palaeoenvironmental implications. Historical Biology, pp.1-9.https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2021.2014479

External links

Look up chevrotain in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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