Tag: mammal

Mouse deer

Now, it should be noted that should you search for mouse deer, you get results for the whole Chevrotain family, but here we are actually talking about the Mouse deer of the family. Chevrotain is used as a replacement for all of the species in this family of species (10) so care should be taken when looking at what is being spoken about.

The genus Tragulus, which originates in 2 words. Firstly, Tragos which is a Greek word meaning male goat, and the latin word ulus which means tiny.

williams mouse deer
Greater mouse-deer
Vietnam mouse-deers (Tragulus versicolor)
Philippine mouse-deer
Lesser mouse-deer

All these species are nocturnal and behave in a similar way. They feed on leaves, fruit grasses and other vegetation that they encounter. They live in the dense forest undergrowth. This can have so much cover, that individuals freezing could be incredibly effective. It would be quite possible for a leopard to walk past a mouse deer that is curled up in the undergrowth and have no idea that anything was there.

They do not grow horns or antlers, though the males grow a pair of teeth which are particularly long – which are used in fighting.

It is unfortunate, but in general each of these separate species are considered data deficient. This ranges from some which are only occasionally seen, but have been recorded over a large area, to the Vietnam mouse-deer, which has only been recorded as having had 4 sightings. The other problem, is that it is only recent that the 6 different species were formally decided upon. Due to the fact that many are similar, and ranges often overlap it means that not only are historic data less reliable, but also even now, unless the sighting is made by an expert, only a good photo can allow us to clearly tell which species has been found

Water Chevrotain

The water Chevrotain is the only species that lies in the Genus Hyemoschus, which is one of 3 genus in the family Tragulidae. Chevrotain means mouse deer

It should be noted, that while in Africa there is a clear understanding between Chevrotain and mouse deer in Asia these two terms are sometimes used interchangeably. The water Chevrotain is the largest in its family, though this is not saying much as it is the size of a large dog.

Unusually, while the males are around 10kg, the females are around 12kg,

Found in the tropics of Africa, it is usually found in coastal areas, though it can be found all the way from Siera Leone to Western Uganda.

It is exclusively nocturnal, foraging for food in clearings in forests. Fallen fruits, such as figs, palm nuts, and breadfruit makes up the majority of his diet. However, it has been known to eat insects, crabs, and even  scavenged meat and fish.

They are exclusively solitary, only coming together to reproduce and to fight. they are heavily territorial.

Population is estimated at 278,000, and it is found through much the forests of central and western Africa

Ruminenta

These are hoofed grazing or browsing mammals. It includes around 200 living species as well as numerous extinct species. Ruminants are split into 2 rather lopsided families. Trevlotain (which are water Chevrotain) split first. The rest lie in the family Pecora. As such, you will find this family tree lower down the page.

Trevlotain (Chevrotain and Mouse Deer) -Water Chevrotain
Antilocapridae - Pronghorn Antelope
Girafidae - Giraffe
Red deer
Bovini Family - here an African Buffalo
Moschidae - Siberian Musk deer

The first family is Tragulina is an infraorder of even-toed ungulates. It contains just one Genus Tragulidae and this contains just one group of species the Chevrotains and mouse-deer. This is the only Ruminant family, which is not in the Pecora family

Every other part of this family falls in the tribe Pecora

Massai Giraffe

massai Giraffe (picture by David Sluka

Also called the Kilimanjaro Giraffe, this giraffe is found in Tanzania and Kenya. Its blotches are (as you can see) very irregular and are leaf shaped. There are around 32,000 of this species of giraffe left in the wild, so while it has suffered huge falls in its population over the last few decades, it is in a far better position than 2 subspecies.

Reticulated Giraffe

Reticulated giraffe

The reticulated giraffe is a subspecies, with an instantly recognizable pattern. Found in Somalia, southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya. there are currently 8500 remaining in the wild. In just the last 20 years, the population has fallen from 36,000 a reduction of over 75%. Lakipia Plateau and Samburu National Reserve are the two reserves where it is easiest to see this species in the wild.

They are similar enough to other giraffe species to be able to interbreed.

This is the subspecies of giraffe which David Schwimmer voices in Madagascar.

Okapi

The Okapi

The Okapi is a little known species from the Giraffidae family (indeed the only non-giraffe in the family), Also known as the Forest giraffe, Congo Giraffe and Zebra Giraffe

It is found in the dense jungle of the North-East democratic republic of the Congo, which makes it incredibly hard to see, and is perhaps the reason that it was not described or discovered by Europeans until the 20th century. Indeed, the long time before which Europeans saw this animal lead to its nickname the Unicorn. This is not to say that no one knew about it – it appears to be depicted on the facade of the Apadana at Persepolis – in the modern country of Iran. It was gifted to them, by the kingdom of Ethiopia.

It lies in its own genus Okapia. Females are pregnant for around 15 months before a single calf is born. They live in canopy forests at altitudes of 500m to 1600m. While it will not inhabit forest that has been disturbed by humans, scientists have found that in suitable forest, it can live at densities of around 2 per square mile. While this is low, it suggests that even with relatively little habitat saved, we could retain healthy populations of this animal. Given its secretive habits, little is known about it, perhaps made clear by the fact that it was only found for the first time in 2008 in the Virungas national park.

A place that is more well known for Okapi is the Okapi wildlife reserve, which covers around 20% of the Ituri forest. At 14,000 square km, if this reserve was not disturbed by humans this area alone could support around 15,000 individuals. With a healthy population of Chimpanzees (as well as 14 other primates) forest elephants, leopards and forest buffalo, it has a great deal of potential for tourism, to help conserve this forest.

Major threats to their survival are logging, which is destroying their habitat, and illegal mining. Unfortunately, being a large forest species, they are also hunted in the bushmeat trade as well as their skin, and do not reproduce rapidly.

It is listed as near threatened, with population estimates lying between 10,000 and 35,000 (this is an incredibly wide estimate band). Few tourists reach its home, and as such there is currently little reason for the locals to protect them – hopefully this can change in the future.

Giraffidae

The Okapi is the lesser known cousin of the Giraffe

Once a diverse group that was found through Africa and Asia, there are only 2 species most people would recognize, that survived to the modern age. These are the Giraffe and Okapi, though in actual fact, there are actually 4 different species of giraffe that survive (as well as the 8 subspecies.

The living Giraffe species are:

KeMassai giraffe david Sluka
Southern giraffe 2 subspecies
Reticulated giraffe
Norther giraffe 4 subspecies

 It should be noted that the IUCN does not recognize the multiple species, however, the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF), together with its partner Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), has performed the first-ever comprehensive DNA sampling and analysis (genomic, nuclear and mitochondrial) of all major natural populations of giraffe throughout their range in Africa. As a result, the layout of the species and subspecies that I have given has been recognized.

Please note that the general news below is all of the news about all species of giraffe. To see any posts about Okapi, visit the Okapi page by clicking on it above.

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Antilocapridae – and its only survivor, the Pronghorn antelope

The Pronghorn antelope is the only member of this family that is still alive today

The Antilocapridae are a family of artiodactyls found in North America. The closest relation to this family is the Girrafidae family from Africa. Although this family is made up of 13 genera (and while you can count it in various ways, there are roughly 70 species that are extinct – many in the long past, but a few pushed to extinction since Europeans settled several hundred years ago).

The only species that has survived from this family is the Pronghorn antelope. Given this situation, I will treat this page as the Pronghorn antelope page, as well as the for the  Antilocapridae – artiodactyls endemic to North America. 10 of these former genera were lost at the end of the ice age. Unfortunately, while the last 3 other genera (Capromeryx, Stockoceros and Tetrameryx) survived until humans arrived, but we killed them off.

The pronghorn is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal living in the interior western and central North America. It looks rather like an antelope, and indeed is often referred to as by various names such as the American antelope, prong buck, pronghorn antelope and the prairie antelope. Perhaps to excuse the mistake further, they fill a similar niche in the ecosystem – its similar looks are likely to be as a result of parallel evolution, needing similar skills and shape to survive on the open plains of America, like the open plains of Asia, or Africa.

The pronghorn’s closest living relatives are the giraffe and okapi (Giraffidae). The Antilocapridae is part of the infraorder Pecora, making them distant relatives of giraffids, deers, bovids, and moschids (by clicking on these names you can look at our pages for these related families.

The Pronghorn is the fastest land mammal in the Western Hemisphere, reaching speeds of 88.5 km/h or 55mph. Indeed, it is the existence of this species which initially lead to the idea that the cheetah evolved in north America, and only then spread across Africa, Asia, the middle east and even parts of southern Europe.

There are 5 recognized subspecies of the Pronghorn (scientific name is the Antilocapra americana). These are

Antilocapra americana – pronghorn

      • A. a. americana – Common pronghorn
      • A. a. mexicana – Mexican pronghorn
      • A. a. peninsularis – Baja California pronghorn
      • A. a. sonoriensis – Sonoran pronghorn – this is not considered different enough from mexicana subspecies to justify its own subspecies so all sonoriensis populations should be considered Mexican pronghorn
      • A. a. oregona – Oregon pronghorn – this is not considered different enough from americana so all populations of this subspecies should be considered the common pronghorn

While these subspecies have minor differences in colour, size or location, only 3 are genetically distinct enough to warrent the subspecies level. Indeed, there is much evidence for much genetic mixing between the subspecies happening naturally over time.

2 of the subspecies are considered endangered – The Sonoran pronghorn only has 200-500 (very large interval, which suggests lack of recent data) individuals left, and the Baja California peninsular pronghorn is numbered 150. Only the Mexican population is included in CITES, likely as a result of the USA government being against the listing the the Baja California population being listed. I am unsure where the line is for a species becoming critically endangered, but I would argue that both of these sub-species should be classed this way.

Currently, the total Pronghorn population is thought to number roughly 1,100,000 individuals, so as a while the pronghorn is not currently endangered.

Should there ever be any blogposts on this species it will appear below.

If you want to return to the Ruminants family page click here

Cervidae

Cervidae family (deer) here red deer

Cervidae (the deer family)

Cervidae is the family of deer. It is a close relation of Bovidae, which includes antelopes and giraffe.

There are 2 branches of this family Cervinae (Old World deer) and Capreolinae  (New World  deer). They will be linked from the images.

The first tribe in Cervini is Munticini

Munticini includes just 2 genus

Genus Elaphodus contains just one species, that of the Tufted deer

 

Genus Muntiacus contains 12 species, all of the worlds Muntjac species (the moschidae family)

Bornean yellow muntjac
Fea's muntjac
Giant muntjac (large antlered muntjac
Gongshan muntjac
Hairy-fronted or black-fronted muntjac
Leaf muntjac
Southern red muntjac, or malabar red muntjac (also Indian or Malabar muntjac) Many subspecies
Northern red muntjac
Pu hot muntjac
Reeves or chinese muntjac photo credit rufus46
Roosevelt muntjacs - camera trap in xuan luen reserve credit xuan lien reserve
Truong Son muntjac
Sumatran muntjac

The other (2nd) tribe is Cervini (true deers) and includes 7 genus some of these only have a few species so will be dealt with together.

In the first group we will include:

Genus Ruserus (1 species), Genus Panolia (1 species), Genus Elaphurus (1 species), Geuns Dama (2 species) in that order.

barasinghe swamp deer
Eld's deer
Pere davids deer
European fallow deer
Persian fallow deer

and now just one genus on each set

Genus Axis

Bawean deer or Kuhl's deer
Calamian deer
Chital, spotted deer, or axis deer
Hog deer

Genus Cervus

Red deer
elk
sika deer
Central asian red deer
Thoroids deer

Gens Rusa

Javan rusa 7 subspecies
Philippine deer
Sambar deer
Visayan spotted deer

Capreolinae  which is the new world sub-family of deer. This includes 3 tribes of deer

Tribe Capreolini which includes 2 genus

Genus Capreolus (2 species) and Genus Hydropotes  (1 species) (pictures in this order)

Also Tribe Alcenini which includes one Genus Alces with just one speices – the elk

I should note, that while the deer below this point may well get their own page in time, for now, they will have a little information added to their title popup.

 

Eastern (asian or siberian) roe deer - it is found in north-eastern Asia. Once thought to be the same species as the European roe it is no longer. It is not threatened and has 2 subspecies
western roe deer (roe deer, or European roe deer) Natively found throughout most of Europe. They are common, (Uk has around half a million)
Water deer (nickname vampire deer) - native to China and Korea (each with its own subspecies), they are classed as vulnerable to extinction . In Korea they are hunted, as their population has exploded since leopards and tigers disappeared) . There are populations outside their natural range, including the UK
Moose or elk - the second largest deer species, found throughout North America, much of Europe and northern parts of Asia, they are classed as least concern (though extinct in various places including the UK

The last tribe is Tribe Odocoileini which includes 7 genus

I will deal with these 7 genus in two blocks

In the first block:

Genus: Blastocerus 1 (species), Hippocamelus 2, Odocoileus 3, Ozotoceros 1, Pudu 2 and Rangifer 1

Marsh deer - the largest deer species of South America, found throughout tropical and sub-tropical areas. They are classed as vulnerable. Both Jaguar and Puma are missing from much of their range, which is allowing this species population to grow out of control.
South Andean deer - an endangered species, restricted to Chile (features on their coat of arms) and Argentina. These two countries are working together, but whether this work will be a success, is still to be seen
Taruca
Mule deer
White-tailed deer
Yucatan brown brocket
Pampas deer
Northern pudu
Southern pudu
Reindeer

Last genus is genus Mazama, the Brocket family. Brocket, any of several small deer constituting the genus Mazama of the family Cervidae, and found from Mexico to South America. Timid browsers, brockets inhabit wooded areas and generally live alone or in pairs.

Amazonian brown brocket
American Red brocket and 7 subspecies
Central American red brocket
Dwarf brocket
Gray brocket and 7 subspecies
Little red brocket
Madera brocket
Pygmy brocket
Small red brocket

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Musk deer are similar to cervids in many respects and as such are often classified as a subfamily of the Cervidae. However, they are not. They differ in several ways, but particularly, in that both sexes lack antlers (the male has a huge, scimitar-like canine instead; females have smaller canines). They have a single opening to their lacrimal canals, versus 2 in cervids.

To read about the 7 species of Musk deer, click here

4 horned antelope

4 horned antelope

This is a small species of antelope that is found in India and Nepal. the sole member of its genus Teracenus (and only sharing its tribe Boselaphini with the Nilgai). First described in 1816, it has 3 recognized subspecies. It is quite hard to find, but feeds on grass shrubs herbs foliage flowers and fruit.

 

They tend to hide in long grass, and the undergrowth, which is why it is only areas like this that they are usually found in.

 

Population estimate in 2001 was put at 10,000. While they are wide spread, they live at low densities (0.7 per square km is considered healthy).

Below is a video of this species, and below this is a list of articles on this species; this is a relatively obscure antelope, but should it be written about, you will find all these articles listed here.

There are a variety of reserves where they can be seen. including Pench Kanha and Gir to name just a few. As the website grows, we hope to link to many of these places. These will all be listed at the bottom of the page.

 
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