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Friday, 6 March 2015

Creature 157: Tragulus kanchil

A deer the size of a rabbit.
Description:
Tragulus kanchil belongs to a family called the mouse deer and is commonly known as the lesser Mouse deer.

It is the smallest of the already tiny ungulate family. The adults sometimes only grow to a size of 45 cm  in length and weigh 1-2 kilograms. Newborn lesser mouse deer can weigh as little as 100 grams. Female mouse deer are reproductively active throughout their adult life and are capable of conceiving within a few hours of giving birth.


Like other ungulates the Lesser mouse deer primarily eats foliage, but they have been known to eat arthropods as well.

Distribution:
The lesser mouse deer is found throughout continental South East Asia as well as Northern Borneo. They prefer disturbed habitats such as recently logged areas rather than old growth forest.

Classification:
O.K., so the mouse deer are not technically deer (family Cervidae), but they are both Ruminates.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Tragulidae
Genus: Tragulus
Species: Tragulus kanchil

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