Is the northern chevrotain, Tragulus williamsoni Kloss, 1916, a synonym or one of the least-documented mammal species in Asia?

Raffles Bull. Zoology 65: 506–514.

Abstract:

The northern chevrotain, Tragulus williamsoni Kloss, 1916, was described, and for nearly a century remained known, from only one specimen. This had been collected from Meh Lem in northern Thailand in 1916. Following a taxonomic revision of the genus Tragulus, its taxonomic status was regarded as uncertain. New information from a Tragulus specimen from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province, China, stored in the Kunming Institute of Zoology, corroborates the status of T. williamsoni as a distinct taxon based on skull measurements. The conservation implications of this finding include the urgent need to determine conclusively the taxonomic status of T. williamsoni, and its distribution and conservation status.

meijaard-biblio

Is the northern chevrotain, Tragulus williamsoni Kloss, 1916, a synonym or one of the least-documented mammal species in Asia?

Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 65: 506-514.

Abstract:

The northern chevrotain, Tragulus williamsoni Kloss, 1916, was described, and for nearly a century
remained known, from only one specimen. This had been collected from Meh Lem in northern Thailand in 1916.
Following a taxonomic revision of the genus Tragulus, its taxonomic status was regarded as uncertain. New
information from a Tragulus specimen from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province, China, stored in the Kunming
Institute of Zoology, corroborates the status of T. williamsoni as a distinct taxon based on skull measurements. The
conservation implications of this finding include the urgent need to determine conclusively the taxonomic status
of T. williamsoni, and its distribution and conservation status.

meiijaard-biblio

The Identity of Mousedeer (Mammalia: Artiodactyla: Tragulidae) observed at Lower Peirce Fotest, Singapore.

NATURE IN SINGAPORE 2009 2: 467–473.

Volltext (PDF)

Conclusion:

The napu and the kanchil are usually distinguished from each other by the number of white stripes on their throat and
neck. However, in rare cases, this does not hold true at least for the kanchil. When coat colour and dark mid-ventral
stripe are taken into consideration, the mousedeer from Lower Peirce, thought to be a napu, Tragulus napu, should be a
kanchil, Tragulus kanchil fulviventer. Therefore, there is no recent record of wild napu on Singapore Island.

low-biblio

A taxonomic revision of the Tragulus mouse-deer (Artiodactyla).

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 140: 63–102. 23 Abbildungen

Zusammenfassung:

The taxonomy of South-East Asian mouse-deer (Tragulus) is complex, and after some 120 years of considerable taxonomic revisions of the genus a clear key is still lacking for the determination of species and subspecies. Through craniometrical analysis of 338 skulls of Tragulus and some study of coat coloration patterns we have come to a better understanding of mouse-deer taxonomy. Our results show that there are three species groups: the T. javanicus-group, the T. napu-group, and T. versicolor.

Within the T. javanicus-group we recognize three species: T. javanicus (from Java), T. williamsoni (from northern Thailand and possibly southern China), and T. kanchil (from the rest of the range), and within these species we provisionally recognize 16 subspecies. Within the T. napu-group we recognize two species: T. nigricans (from  Balabac), and T. napu (from the rest of the  range); within these species we provisionally recognize eight subspecies. T. versicolor from Nhatrang, south-east Vietnam, is distinct from the two previous groups; it is, however, unclear whether this  species is still extant.

meijaard-biblio

Establishment of Lesser Mouse Deer (Tragulus javanicus) Colony for Use as a New Laboratory Animal and/or Companion Animal.

1. Behaviour; 2. Hematological Characteristics; 3. Reproductive Physiology; 4. Rumen Microbiology in Relation to Feed Digestibility; and 5. Metabolic Avtivities.

JIRCAS Journal 4: 79-88.

Abstract:

Five females and 5 males of the lesser mouse deer (Tragulus javanicus) captured from the jungles of Selangor and Pahang, Malaysia were introduced into the Rumen Microbiology Laboratory, Universiti Pertanian Malaysia. The behavior of the lesser mouse deer was different from that of domestic ruminants and was more similar to that of dog and cat. Hematological studies showed that the blood composition of the lesser mouse deer was different from that of other domestic ruminants. In many erythrocytes, 1 or occasionally 2 unique pits were observed. The wild lesser mouse deer and offsprings reproduced well in the laboratory. The mouse deer reached sexual maturity at about 4 to 5 months of age and adult size at 5 months. The earliest sexual maturity was observed at 166 days for the male and 125 days for the female. Estimated gestation period was 134 +/- 2 days, which was much shorter than previously reported. The rumen flora and fauna of the lesser mouse deer were unique and differed from those of other ruminants. For example, the presence of fairly large bacteria, similar to Oval and Oscillospira as well as natural occurrence of mono-fauna of protozoa and protozoa-free conditions in this animal was observed. A new species of protozoa, Isotricha jalaludinii, was detected. Our observations under laboratory conditions suggest that the lesser mouse deer may be suitable as a small laboratory animal for studies in domestic ruminants and/ or as companion animal.

kudo-biblio

Husbandry Manual Lesser Mousedeer (Tragulus javanicus-group).

Second Edition, 2010.

EAZA, Amsterdam.

Preamble:

Since the 1970ies Lesser Mousedeer are kept and bred in European zoos. A studbook was founded in 1987 and is hence one of the oldest within Europe. But despite this long tradition, little has been published on husbandry, diseases and various aspects of population management. A severe decline in population size between 1998 and to date as much as the detection of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus in 2002 gave reason for a comprehensive survey on husbandry and diseases, the compilation of basic individual data, studbook analysis, study of necropsy reports and literature review. Moreover, a questionnaire was sent to European zoos housing mousedeer ; the response rate on the 31st of January 2008 was 70% (21/30) when counting EEP-participants, and 50% (21/42), when including ex-EEP-participants. Additionally, answered questionnaires were returned by two Asian zoos. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all respondents!

Mousedeer may not be neither a magnet to zoo visitors nor critically endangered, but against the background that tropical rainforests, a mousedeer’s natural habitat and generally the most species-rich terrestrial ecosystem on earth, are degraded at an alarming rate, a properly structured captive-breeding programme gains in importance. Summarising the various results this manual hopefully assists in husbandry, handling and care of Lesser Mousedeer as one item of future management.

Eventually, it provides impulse and information for those who have whatever interest in these unimposing but certainly graceful and amazing animals ...

Right from the very beginning it has been the concern of EAZA and the EEPs to encourage and promote the highest possible standards for husbandry of zoo and aquarium animals. For this reason, quite early on, EAZA developed the “Minimum Standard s for the Accommodation and Care of Animals in Zoos and Aquaria”. These standards lay down general principles of animal keeping, to which themembers of EAZA feel themselves committed. Above and beyond this, some countries have defined regulatory minimum standards for the keeping of individual species regarding the size and furnishings of enclosures etc., which, according to the opinion of a uthors, should definitely be fulfilled before allowing such animals to be kept within the area of the jurisdiction of those countries. These minimum standards are intended to determine the borderline of acceptable animal welfare. It is not permitted to fall short of these standards. How difficult it is to determine the standards, however, can be seen in the fact that minimum standards vary from country to country. Above and beyond this, specialists of the EEPs and TAGs have undertaken the considerable task of laying down guidelines for keeping individual animal species. Whilst some aspects of husbandry reported in the guidelines will define minimum standards, in general, these guidelines are not to be understood as minimum requirements; they represent best practice. As such the EAZA/EEP Husbandry Guidelines for keeping animals intend rather to describe the desirable design of enclosures and prerequisites for animal keeping that are, according to the present state of knowledge, considered as being optimal for each species. They intend above all to indicate how enclosures should be designed and what conditions should be fulfilled for the optimal care of individual species.

semrau-biblio