Small Deer
Tragulus kanchil, also known as the small chevrotain, has 38 subspecies. Its body shape is slightly larger than that of a wild rabbit, with a weight of 1.3-2.0kg, a body length of 420-630mm, a shoulder height of approximately 200mm, making it the second smallest member of the artiodactyl order, and the smallest species in the chevrotain genus. It has a pointed and elongated face, no horns, and males have well-developed canine teeth. Its four legs are slender, with the front legs shorter. Both males and females have no horns, with the first incisor tooth being spade-shaped, the second and third incisor teeth and canines being ribbon-shaped, with a gap between the spade-shaped incisor teeth. The canines of male animals are more developed, protruding outwards to form fangs, which is its main weapon in fights. Tragulids are nocturnal animals, mainly active during dusk. They feed mainly on the flowers and fruits of plants, as well as fallen wild fruits. Breeding mainly occurs between June and July, with breeding possible in other months. It is mainly distributed in the Middle East and North Africa, including Indonesia's Java, Sumatra, and other islands.
The extant chevrotain's ancestors are (ancient) chevrotains, which appeared in the late early Pleistocene. (Ancient) chevrotains were also likely ancestors of ruminants, with some of its key characteristics similar to those of extant chevrotains, such as a size similar to that of a rabbit, no horns, slender limbs, a curved back, but with a long tail and also long feet, with palmar and metacarpal bones separated, and all teeth present, but the three upper incisors are small, evidently tending to disappear.
The extant chevrotain is one of the smallest artiodactyls, the small chevrotain has a body size roughly the same as that of a rabbit, with a body length of 42-48cm, tail length 5-7cm, shoulder height less than 33cm, and a weight of 125-210g, which looks like a young deer without horns. It is not only the smallest chevrotain but also the smallest artiodactyl in China. Because of its mini-size, big eyes, it looks like a rodent. Both males and females have no horns, the first incisor tooth is spade-shaped, the second and third incisor teeth and canines are ribbon-shaped, with a gap between the spade-shaped incisor teeth. The canines of male animals are more developed, protruding outwards to form fangs, which is its main weapon in fights. The back, side, and leg sides are brown-beige in color, with a slightly darker spine, and the top has light-colored spots, with white longitudinal stripes on the throat and chest, and white on the abdomen.
The upper molars have a sharp cutting edge, the muzzle is short and narrow, the nostrils are like slits, there are no facial glands and foot glands, the feet are long and slender, with four toes on each foot. It is a ruminant, with the stomach divided into three chambers, the third chamber is degenerate.
Tragulids are truly forest-dwelling animals, the Yunnan subspecies of China live in the deep forests and grasslands of the western foothills of the Hengduan Mountains in western Yunnan Province, such as the Melale, Shangyuan and Mengyuan areas. They live in low-altitude tropical mountain valleys with dense forests and shrubs. They live in the secondary forests, shrubs, grasslands and river valley shrubs and deep grasslands in the tropical forests, sometimes also enter farmland. It is said that it is afraid of water, and once forced to enter the water, it will lie on the ground for a long time after emerging, and it will not move for a long time.
The small chevrotain can reproduce throughout the year, and the female's gestation period is 5-6 months, and each litter produces 1-2 offspring, and occasionally 2 offspring. The young are soon able to stand and move around, and reach sexual maturity at 5 months old. Interestingly, the female gives birth to offspring 48 hours after birth and can get pregnant while breastfeeding. The gestation period is 120-155 days, and each litter produces 1-2 offspring.
Due to the large number of predators, the current number is very small.
In April 2014, a artificially bred chevrotain was born in the Peinhton Animal Park in Spain.
The small chevrotain is cute and charming, and is a popular animal.
The chevrotain is a rare species between the camel and deer families, and is the smallest even-toed ungulate on earth, its shape is like a miniature deer, and its body size is roughly the size of a rabbit. Because it retains many primitive characteristics of the deer family, it has high scientific value.
The chevrotain is one of the oldest and most primitive types of ruminant ungulates, it has important scientific value.
20144
