Chevrotain

"Kancil" redirects here. For the car, see Perodua Kancil
Not to be confused with Kanchil (Lesser Mouse Deer)
Not to be confused with deer mouse (Peromyscus)
Not to be confused with Chevrotaine
Chevrotains
Fossil range: Early Miocene–Recent
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Suborder: Ruminantia
Family: Tragulidae
Milne-Edwards, 1864
Genera
  • Hyemoschus
  • Moschiola
  • Tragulus

The nine species of chevrotain, also known as mouse deer, make up the family Tragulidae. Chevrotains are small, secretive creatures, now found only in the tropical forests of Africa, India, Sri Lanka, and South-east Asia. They are the only living members of the infraorder Tragulina.

The word 'chevrotain' itself is French, and can be translated as 'little goat'. The Telugu name for the animal is "Jarini Pandi", which literally means "a deer and a pig". The Konkani (Mangalore, India) name for it is "Barinka"

The Sinhala name meeminna (Sri Lankan sub species Moschiola memmina) roughly translates to 'mouse-like deer'.

Contents

Biology

The family was 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. Chevrotains have a four-chambered stomach to ferment tough plant foods, but the third chamber is poorly developed. Like other ruminants, they lack upper incisors, and give birth to only a single young. In other respects, however, the chevrotains have primitive features, closer to non-ruminants such as pigs. They do not have horns or antlers, but both sexes possess enlarged upper canines [1]. The male's are prominent and sharp, projecting either side of the lower jaw. Chevrotains have short, thin legs which leave them lacking in agility but also helps to maintain a smaller profile which aids in running through the dense foliage of their environment. Other pig-like features include the presence of four toes on each foot, the absence of facial scent glands, premolars with sharp crowns, and the form of their sexual behaviour and copulation.[1]

The largest member of the family is the Water Chevrotain of Africa, at about 80 cm in length and roughly 10 kilograms. It is regarded as the most pig-like and primitive of the four. The remaining three all prefer rocky forest habitats. The Lesser Mouse Deer of South-east Asia is the smallest of all ungulates, at a mature size as little as around 45 cm (18 inches) and 2 kg (4.4 lb).

Chevrotains are solitary animals, and usually interact only to mate. The young are weaned at three months of age, and reach sexual maturity at between five and ten months, depending on species. Parental care is relatively limited. Although they lack the types of scent glands found in most other ruminants, they do possess a chin gland for marking each other as mates or antagonists, and, in the case of the water chevrotain, anal and preputial glands for marking territory. Their territories are relatively small, on the order of 13-24 hectares, but neighbors generally ignore each other, rather than competing aggressively.[1]

All four species depend for their survival on the retention of their fast-dwindling forest habitat and restriction of the bush meat trade. Some of the species (2 Asian and 1 African) show a remarkable affinity with water often remaining submerged for prolonged periods to evade predators or other unwelcome intrusion. This has also lent support to the idea that whales evolved from water-loving creatures that looked like small deer.[2]

Classification

Ancient Chevrotains

Painting of Dorcatherium.

There are 6 extinct chevrotains genera[3] including:

The Hypertragulidae were closely related to the Tragulidae.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Dubost, G. (1984). Macdonald, D.. ed. The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: Facts on File. pp. 516–517. ISBN 0-87196-871-1. 
  2. ↑ "Aquatic deer and ancient whales". BBC News. 2009-07-07. http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8137000/8137922.stm. Retrieved 2010-03-26. 
  3. ↑ Farooq, U., Khan, M.A., Akhtar, M. and Khan, A.M. 2008. Lower dentition of Dorcatherium majus (Tragulidae, Mammalia) in the Lower and Middle Siwaliks (Miocene) of Pakistan. Tur. J. Zool., 32: 91-98. http://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/zoology/issues/zoo-08-32-1/zoo-32-1-14-0612-5.pdf
  4. ↑ Israel M. Sánchez; Victoria Quiralte; Jorge Morales; Martin Pickford (2010). "A new genus of tragulid ruminant from the early Miocene of Kenya". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 55 (2): 177-187. 
  5. ↑ Métais, G., Chaimanee, Y., Jaeger, J.-J. & Ducrocq S. 2001. New remains of primitive ruminants from Thailand: evidence of the early evolution of the Ruminantia in Asia. Zoologica Scripta. 30, 231-248. http://www.thaiscience.info/Article%20for%20ThaiScience/Article/5/Ts-5%20new%20remains%20of%20primitive%20ruminants%20from%20thailand%20evidence%20of%20the%20early%20evolution%20of%20the%20ruminantia%20in%20asia.pdf

Gallery

Chevrotain

Javan Chevrotain