Tragulidae
Sign in to saveChevrotains, or mouse-deer, are small, even-toed ungulates that make up the family Tragulidae, and are the only living members of the infraorder Tragulina. The 10 extant species are placed in three genera, but several species also are known only from fossils. The extant species are found in forests in South and Southeast Asia; a single species, the water chevrotain, is found in the rainforests of Central and West Africa. In November 2019, conservation scientists announced that they had photographed silver-backed chevrotains (Tragulus versicolor) in a Vietnamese forest for the first time s
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Tragulidae is a family of small, deer-like animals called chevrotains or mouse-deer that represent the only living members of an ancient group of even-toed ungulates. These shy forest dwellers are found primarily in South and Southeast Asia, with one species also living in African rainforests, and they matter to scientists because they represent a unique evolutionary lineage and are subjects of conservation concern.
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8 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Biology
- Taxonomy
- Extinct chevrotains
- Mythology
- Footnotes
- References
- External links
Chevrotains, or mouse-deer, are small, even-toed ungulates that make up the family Tragulidae, and are the only living members of the infraorder Tragulina. The 10 extant species are placed in three genera, but several species also are known only from fossils. The extant species are found in forests in South and Southeast Asia; a single species, the water chevrotain, is found in the rainforests of Central and West Africa. 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.
They are solitary, or live in loose groupings or pairs, and feed almost exclusively on plant material. Chevrotains are the smallest hoofed mammals in the world. The Asian species weigh between , while the African chevrotain is considerably larger, at . With an average length of and an average height of , the Java mouse-deer is the smallest surviving ungulate (hoofed) mammal, as well as the smallest artiodactyl (even-toed ungulate). Despite their common name of "mouse-deer", they are not closely related to true deer, hence the orthographic distinction by means of the hyphen.