Due to their small size, these creatures are hunted by various carnivores such as large snakes, birds, reptiles and cats.
They are known as "living fossils" because they have changed little in 30 million years.
Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical
The subspecies Tragulus napu nigricans is listed with the IUCN as endangered. This subspecies is found on Balabac Island southwest of the Philippines. Otherwise, these animals are threatened because of over-hunting and habitat loss through deforestation.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
Larger Malay Mouse Deer are often used as a source of food for native people. They also make good pets, for they are easily tamed.
The larger Malay Mouse Deer has a diet of fallen fruit and berries, aquatic plants, leaves, buds, shrubs and grasses.
Larger Malay Mouse Deer are located in Thailand, Indochina, Sri Lanka, the Malayan Penninsula, and the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.
Biogeographic Regions: oriental (Native )
These animals always live close to water and prefer to be in the undergrowth of dense forests.
Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: forest ; rainforest
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 14.0 years.
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 14.0 years.
This mouse deer, first described by F. Cuvier in 1822, is one of the smallest living hoofed mammals, along with the other three species in this genus. This ungulate has a small, triangular head with a small pointed black nose and large eyes. Approximately the size of a rabbit, they have very long and thin legs and a rounded body. The color is orange-brown with white under the stomach, chest and chin. These ungulates do not have any horns or antlers although the males have small tusks (elongated canines) in their upper jaw. When standing, their hind end is higher than their front quarter. Some measurements of the Mouse Deer is that their body length is 70-75 cm, their shoulder height is 30-35 cm and their tail length is 8-10 cm.
Range mass: 5 to 8 kg.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
The female spends most of her adult life pregnant. These animals breed year-round with a gestation period of 152 to 155 days and will breed again within a couple of hours after birth. Only one offspring is usually born at a time (twin births are very rare). The offspring are well-developed when born and are able to stand and be fully active 30 minutes after birth. These baby ungulates nurse while standing on three legs. They are weaned at two to three months of age and are sexually mature at four and a half months (living up to sixteen years in captivity).
Breeding season: These chevrotains breed throughout the year.
Range number of offspring: 1 to 2.
Average number of offspring: 1.
Range gestation period: 152 to 155 days.
Range weaning age: 8 to 12 weeks.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 4.5 months.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 4.5 months.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; year-round breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous
Average birth mass: 373 g.
Average number of offspring: 1.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
Sex: male: 135 days.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
Sex: female: 137 days.
Parental Investment: precocial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female)
