 |
Order :
CETARTIODACTYLA
Family : Tragulidae
Species : Tragulus versicolor
Head-Body Length : 40-45 cm
Tail Length : 5 cm
Weight : at least 1.7 kg
The Silver-backed
Mousedeer (or 'Vietnam Mousedeer') is a rare species of chevrotain known
only to occur in parts of southeast Vietnam. It was first described by
Oldfield Thomas, a British zoologist, in 1910.
In 1990 an important specimen was acquired from the Tây Nguyên Plateau
(Gia Lai Province), at
an elevation of around 500 metres, in habitat described as 'mature lowland
semi-evergreen tropical forest' (Kuznetsov & Borissenko, 2004).
In 2018 a series of trail camera
images were acquired in the vicinity of Nha Trang (Khánh Hòa Province) (An Nguyen et al, 2019),
some of which are reproduced here. These are the first ever images of the
species alive in the wild, and they serve to confirm the continued
existence of the species in the area (although the presence of these
mousedeer would have been known by local hunters).
The habitat in these images appears to be dominated by dry, coastal,
lowland scrub forest.
Little is known of the ecology of this species, except that it is
primarily diurnal
in habits, and is mainly solitary.
The Silver-backed Mousedeer can easily be distinguished from other
mousedeer by its unique contrasting fur colour: the head, sides of neck and shoulders are bright orange
('ochraceous-buff'), while the middle and rear part of the flanks bear
grey hairs tipped with white.
The belly is white, and there is strong demarcation between the belly fur
and the lower flanks. There is a white stripe on either side of the neck.
In these images the large ears are held quite erect, which perhaps makes
them appear slightly larger than other species of Tragulus, and the
legs appear to be relatively long when compared with the
Lesser Mousedeer Tragulus kanchil
(which also occurs in Vietnam). However, these are simply impressions
gained from these images.
More importantly,
detailed skull
measurements clearly show this mousedeer to be a distinct and unique species (Meijaard
& Groves, 2004), rather than a colour variation of another species.
This elusive and beautiful species is under threat by continuous hunting,
including
the indiscriminate use of wire snares and other methods, and by the loss of lowland habitat.
Figs 1 to 3 : Examples from southeast Vietnam, photographed in 2018 by
automatic camera trap.
Figs 4 and 5 : Dry, lowland, coastal forest habitat in which the 2018 images were acquired.
Images courtesy SIE / GWC / Leibniz-IZW / NCNP and An Nguyen.
Thanks to Marcus Chua and Andrew Tilker for assistance.
References :
An Nguyen, Van Bang Tran, Duc Minh Hoang, Thi Anh Minh Nguyen, Dinh Thang
Nguyen, Van Tiep Tran, Barney Long, Erik Meijaard, Jeff Holland, Andreas
Wilting & Andrew Tilker (2019). Camera-trap evidence that the
Silver-backed Chevrotain Tragulus versicolor remains in the wild in
Vietnam. Nature Ecology & Evolution. 2019: 3 (11).
Francis, C.M. 2019. A Field Guide to the Mammals of South-east Asia. Second
Edition. New Holland. 416 pp.
Kuznetsov, G. V. & Borissenko, A. V. (2004). A new record of Tragulus
versicolor (Artiodactyla, Tragulidae) from Vietnam, and its sympatric
occurrence with T. kanchil. Russian Journal of Theriology, 2004:
3(1), 9-13.
Meijaard, E., & Groves, C. P. (2004). A taxonomic revision of the Tragulus
mouse-deer (Artiodactyla). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society,
140(1), 63-102.
Thomas, Oldfield (1910), Tragulus versicolor, The Annals and
Magazine of Natural History, 8, 5 (25–30): 535
Timmins, R., Duckworth, J.W. & Meijaard, E. 2015. Tragulus versicolor.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T136360A61978789.
Links :
Global Wildlife Conservation
|