Philippine Mouse-deer

Taxobox
name = Philippine Mouse-deer
status = EN
status_system = iucn3.1
trend = down
image_caption =


image_width = 200px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Artiodactyla
familia = Tragulidae
genus = "Tragulus"
species = "T. nigricans"
binomial = "Tragulus nigricans"
binomial_authority = Thomas, 1892
synonyms = "Tragulus napu nigricans" "Muntiacus nigricans"

The Philippine Mouse-deer ("Tragulus nigricans"), also known as the Balabac Mouse Deer or Pilandok (in Filipino), is a small, nocturnal ruminant, which is endemic to Balabac and nearby smaller islands south-west of Palawan in the Philippines. It has often been considered a subspecies of the Greater Mouse Deer ("T. napu"). Contrary to its common name, the Philippine mouse deer does not belong to the deer family Cervidae, but is a member of the chevrotain family.

Anatomy and morphology

It has a brown coat with black and white stripes. The Philippine Mouse-deer is only 40 centimeters at the shoulder level and is thereby one of the smallest ungulates. The male of its species does not have any antlers like a real deer. They use their large, tusk-like canine teeth on the upper jaw for self-defense.

Ecology and life history

Culture

The Philippine Mouse-deer is usually portrayed as a trickster in Philippine folklore. In a Maranao tale, the Philippine Mouse-deer tricks a prince into giving up his bag of gold and face a hive of angry bees.

Conservation

References

*
* [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/22065/summ| UCN Red List of Threatened Species: Tragulus napu ssp. nigricans]
* [http://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id299899| BioLib - Tragulus nigricans (Balabac mouse deer)]
* [http://www.txtmania.com/trivia/smallest.php Smallest in the Philippines]
* [http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=30&af=phi&
]
* [http://folklore.philsites.net/stories/laughter1.html Tales of Laughter - Pilandok and the Sumusong-sa-Alongan]

References