| Lesser mouse-deer | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A lesser mouse-deer atTierpark Hellabrunn | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Tragulidae |
| Genus: | Tragulus |
| Species: | T. kanchil |
| Binomial name | |
| Tragulus kanchil Raffles, 1821 | |
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Thelesser mouse-deer,lesser Malay chevrotain, orkanchil (Tragulus kanchil) is a species ofeven-toed ungulate in the familyTragulidae.
The lesser mouse-deer is found widely acrossSoutheast Asia inIndochina,Myanmar (Kra Isthmus),Brunei,Cambodia,China (SouthernYunnan),Indonesia (Kalimantan,Sumatra and many other small islands),Laos,Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia,Sarawak and many other small islands),Singapore,Thailand, andVietnam.
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 smallerJava mouse-deer. It is threatened by predation by feral dogs.
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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.).
InIndonesian andMalaysian folklore, the mouse-deerSang Kancil is a cunningtrickster similar toBr'er Rabbit from theUncle Remus tales, even sharing some story plots. For instance, they both trick enemies pretending to be dead or inanimate,[2][3] and both lose a race to slower opponents.[4][5] The mouse-deer also plays a role in the novelKing 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.[6]
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
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