Lesser mouse-deer

Lesser mouse-deer
File:Kleinkantschil im Dschungelzelt in Hellabrunn 6626.jpg
A lesser mouse-deer at Tierpark Hellabrunn
Conservation status
Least Concern Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Tragulidae
Genus:	Tragulus
Species:	T. kanchil
Binomial name
Tragulus kanchil Raffles, 1821
File:Range Tragulus kanchil.png

The lesser mouse-deer, lesser Malay chevrotain, or kanchil (Tragulus kanchil) is a species of even-toed ungulate in the family Tragulidae.

Distribution

The lesser mouse-deer is found widely across Southeast Asia in Indochina, Myanmar (Kra Isthmus), Brunei, Cambodia, China (Southern Yunnan), Indonesia (Kalimantan, Sumatra and many other small islands), Laos, Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and many other small islands), Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Description

It is one of the smallest known hoofed mammals, its mature size being as little as 45 cm (18 inches) and 2 kg (4.4 lb) and related to the even smaller Java mouse-deer. It is threatened by predation by feral dogs.

File:Adult Lesser mouse-deer (Tragulus kanchil), Singapore - 20141001.jpg

Adult lesser mouse-deer from Singapore

Through further research it is also discovered that the creatures who were initially believed to be nocturnal actually conduct their activities during the day. Also, though many births occur in May, November or December, the females are able to reproduce throughout the year (Kusuda et al.).

Folklore and literature

In Indonesian and Malaysian folklore, the mouse-deer Sang Kancil is a cunning trickster similar to Br'er Rabbit from the Uncle Remus tales, even sharing some story plots. For instance, they both trick enemies pretending to be dead or inanimate, and both lose a race to slower opponents. The mouse-deer also plays a role in the novel King Rat, when the character The King sells rat meat to officers within his POW camp but claims it is mouse-deer meat in order to fool them into eating it.

References

File:Lesser Mouse-Deer - Singapore Zoo.png

Adult lesser mouse-deer at Singapore Zoo

• Mammal Species of the World

Kusuda, S., Adachi, I., Fujioka, K., Nakamura, M., Amano-Hanzawa, N., Goto, N., et al. (2013). Reproductive characteristics of female lesser mouse deer (tragulus javanicus) based on fecal progestogens and breeding records. Animal Reproduction Science, 137(1-2), 69–73. doi:10.1016/j.anireprosci.2012.12.008