Tragulidae

Chevrotains, or mouse-deer, are small, even-toed ungulates that make up the family Tragulidae, and are the only living members of the infraorder Tragulina. The 10 extant species are placed in three genera, but several species also are known only from fossils. The extant species are found in forests in South and Southeast Asia; a single species, the water chevrotain, is found in the rainforests of Central and West Africa. In November 2019, conservation scientists announced that they had photographed silver-backed chevrotains in a Vietnamese forest for the first time since the last confirmed sightings in 1990.

Tragulidae

Uncredited · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
chevrotainPBDB
Sits inside
TragulinaPBDB
Diet
frugivore, grazerPBDB
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Artiodactyla

Time the record covers

At least 37 million years on record.

The record covers at least 37.71 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 41.03 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Eocene — about 10 of 267 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 33 of 267 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 218 of 267 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 2 of 267 occurrencesPleistocene — about 5 of 267 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences40–39 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences39–38 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 3 occurrences36–35 Mya — about 3 occurrences35–33 Mya — about 3 occurrences33–32 Mya — about 4 occurrences32–31 Mya — about 4 occurrences31–29 Mya — about 4 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 4 occurrences28–27 Mya — about 4 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 4 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 4 occurrences24–22 Mya — about 3 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 2 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 11 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 16 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 17 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 35 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 44 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 23 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 21 occurrences11–9.8 Mya — about 12 occurrences9.8–8.4 Mya — about 12 occurrences8.4–7.0 Mya — about 14 occurrences7.0–5.6 Mya — about 10 occurrences5.6–4.2 Mya — about 3 occurrences4.2–2.8 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences2.8–1.4 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.4–0 Mya — about 3 occurrences37.71 Mya129 ka41.9 Mya0 Mya

267 occurrences of Tragulidae on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

267 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

46 formations

Maboko — 0.13°S, 34.61°EMaboko — 0.17°N, 34.62°EMaboko — 0.15°N, 34.62°EManchar — 26.33°N, 67.83°EKizilirmak — 40.30°N, 34.05°EKizilirmak — 40.02°N, 34.02°EKizilirmak — 40.23°N, 34.05°EChinji — 32.68°N, 72.37°EChinji — 32.93°N, 71.66°EChinji — 32.79°N, 72.93°EVihowa — 30.08°N, 70.33°ELothidok — 3.33°N, 35.75°ELothidok — 3.22°N, 35.83°EChinji — 32.82°N, 75.37°EBrackwater Molasse — 48.48°N, 10.10°EBrackwater Molasse — 48.35°N, 9.86°EChitarwata — 30.08°N, 70.33°ENagri — 32.77°N, 72.50°EDhok Pathan — 33.63°N, 72.52°EXiacaowan — 33.45°N, 118.20°EDam — 25.98°N, 49.39°EAntonios — 40.50°N, 23.00°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 47.92°N, 10.59°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.15°N, 9.88°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.09°N, 10.03°EDytiko — 40.88°N, 22.55°EDytiko — 40.84°N, 22.56°EUpper Koru Series — 0.23°S, 35.34°ELegetet — 0.18°S, 35.27°EVille — 50.90°N, 6.45°EStudienka — 48.20°N, 17.00°EBakate — 4.27°N, 36.60°EKrabi Basin B2 — 7.97°N, 99.06°EKeramaria — 38.31°N, 26.13°EChhasra — 23.44°N, 70.99°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Tragulidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 22 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 130 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Tragulidae and its relatives

Miocene

Where Tragulidae and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

2,012 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 175 sites for Tragulidae, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

118 references

Each of the 267 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 106 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Tragulidae

Credit
nobody named on the record
Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Structured light scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Tragulidae sp. · pu:vpl:RM40

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itTragulina through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Milnes-Edwards 1864