Sri Lankan spotted chevrotain

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Sri Lankan spotted chevrotain
MouseDeer0.jpg
Sri Lanka spotted chevrotain at Field Museum, mounted specimen
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Tragulidae
Genus: Moschiola
Species:
M. meminna
Binomial name
Moschiola meminna
(Erxleben, 1777)
Synonyms

Moschus meminnaErxleben, 1777
Tragulus meminna(Erxleben, 1777)

Contents

Moschiola meminna is a species of even-toed ungulate in the chevrotain family (Tragulidae). Particularly in the old literature, M. meminna often refers to the spotted chevrotains as a whole. Today, the name is increasingly restricted to the Sri Lankan spotted chevrotain or white-spotted chevrotain, with the Indian spotted chevrotain M. indica [1] and/or the yellow-striped chevrotain M. kathygre treated as distinct species.

In Sri Lanka, this species is found in the dry zone and is replaced in the wet zone by the yellow-striped chevrotain. [2]

Description

Head and body length in the species typically is 55–60 cm. It is dull brown in color with three or four dotted white stripes going longitudinally along flank.

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References

  1. 1 2 Duckworth, J.W.; Timmins, R. (2015). "Moschiola meminna". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2015: e.T41779A73575223. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T41779A73575223.en . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. Groves, C.; Meijaard, E. (2005). "Intraspecific variation in Moschiola, the Indian Chevrotain" (PDF). The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement. 12: 413–421.