The little deer is the smallest artiodactyl animal in the world. Interesting facts about equids Unusual artiodactyls

In the forests of Southeast Asia, scientists have observed the rarest inhabitant of our planet - the mouse deer. It is the smallest artiodactyl animal on the planet. An adult grows no more than 50 centimeters in height and weighs about 2.5 kilograms.

At the same time, zoologists managed to make unique footage and capture such a rare animal on video. The photographed individual turned out to be still very young, in size it does not exceed a small rodent. Usually mouse deer grow up to 50 cm and weigh 2.5 kg.

The smallest artiodactyl in the world leads a solitary life, and to see it in vivo, and even more so to shoot on video is considered a great success, the researchers note.

The mouse deer, canchil or Chevrotain, is a mammal from the deer family, which consists of three genera. The smallest artiodactyl on the planet. Dwelling in wet tropical forests Central Africa, India and Southeast Asia.

This small deer has a length of 45 to 55 cm, the height of the animal at the withers does not exceed 20-25 cm. The mouse deer weighs from 1.5 to 2.5 kg.

It is noteworthy that mouse deer are included in the order of artiodactyls along with ... hippos, pigs, deer, antelopes, camels, sheep and goats. Their small size remarkably helps them to move in dense thickets, rainforest, do not get dirty in swampy soil and forest floor.

These miniature deer do not have horns, but have long, dagger-like, sharp fangs that stick out of the male's mouth like tusks. Males regularly use this weapon in the fight against rivals. The curved torso of the reindeer is supported by thin, pencil-like legs, and a twelve-centimeter-long tongue easily reaches the eyes. The animal has a tail about 5 cm long. The muzzle is pointed, the black nose is hairless, the eyes are very large - they help the kanchils navigate in the dark forest. Despite legs with hooves, mouse deer, if necessary, can climb a tree. If the animals are in danger, they sometimes seek salvation in the water. Deer are excellent swimmers and can walk along the bottom without sticking out.

These are very shy secretive nocturnal animals leading a solitary lifestyle. Only for a moment you can see the kanchil in the dense bush. When pursued, he hides, and when caught, he bites. It is characteristic that mouse deer are very territorial animals, and each individual has sole ownership, although not large - up to 13 hectares for males and about 8.5 hectares for females - but a permanent forest plot. That's how much these babies need to feel comfortable. Tiny deer diligently mark their territory with urine, dirt, and secretions. The fight for the site between males is carried out with the help of long fangs.

During the day, kanchili hide in a wide variety of places and may sleep in rock crevices or hollow tree trunks. At night, they go in search of food, laying tunnel-like paths in the thicket. They eat everything that they come across on the way from the leaves of tropical plants, mushrooms, fruits and seeds, to beetles, frogs, fish and carrion. Moreover, these deer actively hunt fish in small stakes, streams and rivulets.

Kanchili are monogamous. After a gestation period of approximately 140 days, the female gives birth to one, rarely two cubs, which feed on an udder with four teats. Already 30 minutes after its birth, the cub is on its feet. And a few hours after the birth of the cubs, the females mate again - we can say that they spend almost their entire lives in a state of pregnancy. The life expectancy of mouse deer is on average 12 years.

It should be noted that these animals locals mined for their meat. Kanchili are also easily tamed and are sometimes kept as pets. In the folklore of Southeast Asia, deer are depicted as cunning animals.

The main threat to these animals is the ever-increasing uprooting of forests.

Javanese deer

The majestic deer have a tiny relative, the little Javan deer or Javan kanchil (Tragulus javamcus). It is smaller than a cat (height - up to 20-25 centimeters, weight - only 2.5 kilograms), outwardly resembles a hare, but proudly bears the title of the smallest of the ungulates. These unusual animals are residents of West Africa and South Asia. Outwardly, the animals resemble roe deer: with a thick body, bright eyes, a beautiful head, thin legs, small hooves and a tail, soft smooth hair of various colors.

Deer lifestyle

Adult males have fangs that are strongly curved, protrude 3 centimeters from the gums and point backwards. They are flattened, as if hollowed out from the sides, and have a cutting edge.

Young deer are no different from adults. Olenka can never be found in a herd, as he leads a solitary life and only during mating starts a pair. During the day, he rests, hiding in a dense bush, lying and chewing gum. All deer mark their territory with scent marks. During the day, a burrow of another animal, recesses under the roots of trees, extremely rarely, hollows located low from the ground can serve as a refuge for them. Animals swim well, dive, often hunt crabs, fish, shellfish.

Deer tricks

Deer feed on insects and small mammals. With the onset of darkness, they go out in search of food - all kinds of leaves, herbs and berries. They cannot do without water. All the movements of this little animal are beautiful, light and very agile.

Kanchil makes quite large jumps, and easily overcomes obstacles in his path. If the deer sees that he can become the prey of his enemies, he resorts to cunning. Just like the opossum, it calmly lies on the ground and pretends to be dead. When the enemy approaches, the deer abruptly makes one or two jumps and runs away with lightning speed.

Deer breeding features

Little is known about the breeding habits of the Javan deer. Perhaps they, like other ruminants, have only one cub. Within an hour after birth, the cubs are able to move after their mother. By 5 months of age, young animals reach sexual maturity. Quite often, deer are brought to Europe and kept in captivity. Many owners of menageries put deer on display. The Javan deer is very clean, constantly cleaning and licking itself.

Javanese kanchil(Javanese or Malayan deer) is considered the smallest artiodactyl animal in the world, their height rarely exceeds 25 cm, and their weight is a maximum of 2.5 kg., It has similar dimensions to a cat or a hare. Despite not having the large, branching horns of their larger counterparts, the Javanese Kanchil has sharp and strong fangs, based on the size of the animal. Outwardly, the kanchil is very similar to the roe deer: a rather large (relative to its size in general) body, bright eyes, graceful legs with small hooves, a beautiful head; wool can be of different colors, but always soft.

The Java deer lives in the South - East Asia, on the islands of Kalimantan, Java and Sumatra, as well as in India and Ceylon, West Africa and South Asia.

In addition to the fact that Javanese kanchil - the smallest artiodactyl in the world, these animals are considered to be one of the most ancient: its history of existence begins 50 million years ago, during the formation of groups of ancient ungulates.

Javanese kanchili do not gather in flocks, they prefer a solitary lifestyle, and they get a couple for themselves only during the mating season. During the day, they usually sit among the bushes or in the holes of other animals, and at night they go out for leaves, herbs and berries - this is what kanchili like to eat. In addition to the above, they are also very good swimmers, which allows them to hunt crabs, shellfish and fish.
The behavior of Javanese kanchels when an enemy approaches is usually similar to the behavior of opossums: when the enemy approaches, the deer pretends to be dead, and as soon as the opportunity arises, it jumps sharply right in front of its nose and runs away.

The breeding characteristics of Javan deer have not yet been fully explored, but most likely they give birth to only one cub, like most other animals. Newborn kanchili develop quite quickly: an hour after birth, they already quickly follow their mother, and at 5 months they enter sexual maturity.
Keeping the Javanese Kanchil is quite popular in Europe, where they can be kept in captivity, and many owners even send their pets to exhibitions or simply show other people such an unusual animal.

A distinctive feature of the deer is his love for cleanliness: he constantly licks and cleans himself, so those who decide to keep him at home should take into account that the pet's cage must always be clean.

Little raccoon - of course, heard ... But the little deer ... Perhaps you need to look through zoology or watch "In the Animal World." And you can read ... here ... about small, incredibly interesting and amazing little deer. Meet Javanese Kanchil… yes, yes, there are such miniature ungulates.

Small deer do not have branched horns, but there are impressive fangs, based on the size of the animal. Growth Javanese kanchili, the smallest representatives of artiodactyls found in Southeast Asia, on the islands of Kalimantan, Java and Sumatra, in India and Ceylon from 20 cm (smallest) - small kanchil up to 80 cm (largest) - African water kanchil. Weight ranges from 1.5 kg to 5-8 kg, respectively. From the mouse, the kanchils inherited a grayish-brown coat with an orange tint, a secretive nocturnal lifestyle and omnivorous nature. The small size helps them to move perfectly in dense thickets, not to "sink" in the swampy soil of the rainforest.

Kanchili usually give birth to two cubs and are very territorial, ie. are permanent "owners" of about 10 hectares of space. During the day, deer hide and sleep, at dusk and at night they hunt. Promiscuity in food for kanchili comes down to the fact that they eat not only vegetation - mushrooms, fruits, leaves, but also small animals, ranging from beetles to frogs and fish, which are perfectly hunted at small stakes. One of the species, the African water kanchil, can even be called an “amphibious mammal”, spends almost all the time in the water, hunts here, escapes from predators and swims beautifully. And yet ... mouse deer eat ... carrion. There are only 5 species of these most interesting animals on the planet. And in the Malay folklore, the kanchili is assigned the role of a cunning animal, like the Slavs - the fox.

Artiodactyls ( Artiodactyla) are the most diverse, largest, terrestrial living currently. It is the fifth largest, consisting of 10 families, 80 genera, and approximately 210 species. Although most artiodactyls live in relatively open areas, they can be found in the most various conditions and on every continent except Antarctica, Australia and Oceania. As you would expect in such a diverse group, there are animals with a wide variety of physiques and weights. Body weight ranges from 1 kg (Asian deer) to 4000 kg (). The height of the animals varies from 23 cm (Asian deer) to 5 m ().

Classification

Artiodactyls are divided into 3 suborders:

• Non-ruminant or porcine ( Suina) includes 3 living families: peccaries, hippos and pigs, as well as two extinct ones - anthracotheres and entelodont. These animals are distinguished by a simple digestive system and poor specialization. They have rounded teeth and tusk-like fangs.
• (Ruminantia) include families of deer, deer, giraffe, pronghorn, musk deer and bovid, as well as a number of extinct families. Unlike non-ruminants, representatives of this order have a complex digestive system. They lack upper incisors, but ruminants have a dense calloused ridge.
• callosities ( Tylopoda) contain one living family of camelids. Modern corns have a 3-chambered stomach. They have two-toed limbs, with blunt, curved claws. The feet of these animals have soft callous growths, thanks to which the representatives of this order got their name.

Note: if artiodactyl animals are classified from the point of view of phylogenetics, then they should be considered along with. These two orders form the superorder Cetaceans (Cetartiodactyla).

Evolution

Like many mammals, artiodactyls first appeared during the early . By appearance they were more like today's deer: small, short-legged animals that fed on leaves and soft parts of plants. By the late Eocene, the ancestors of three modern suborders had already appeared. However, at that time artiodactyls were far from modern, but were much more successful and numerous. Artiodactyls occupied insignificant ecological niches, and apparently at that time they began to develop their complex digestive systems, which allowed them to survive by digesting low-quality food.

The advent of grass during the Eocene and its subsequent spread during , marked a major change: grass was very difficult to eat, and artiodactyls with well-developed stomachs adapted better to this rough food and soon replaced equids - the dominant terrestrial herbivores.

Cetaceans have been found to have evolved from artiodactyls, and an early whale from 47 million Eocene deposits had a double ankle joint. In some taxonomies, cetaceans and artiodactyls are placed in the superorder Cetartiodactyla as sister orders, although DNA analysis showed that cetaceans are from artiodactyls.

The most recent theory in the origin of hippos suggests that hippos and whales share a semiaquatic ancestor that diverged from other artiodactyls about 60 million years ago. The group of hypothetical ancestors probably split into two branches about 54 million years ago. One branch evolved into cetaceans, possibly beginning with the proto-whale Pakiceta from 52 mya and other early whale ancestors known as archaeocetes, which eventually underwent aquatic adaptation and became fully aquatic cetaceans.

Description

All artiodactyls have even number developed toes on each foot (although there is conflicting information about the number of toes on the hind feet of several species from the peccary family). The symmetry of the foot passes between the middle two toes and the weight of the animal is transferred most of all to them. The other toes are reduced, or vestigial, or absent.

Another important characteristic is the shape of the astragalus. Astragalus is the ankle bone in the hind limb. It has deep arched grooves, and connects to the bones of the limbs on both sides. These grooves give the leg greater flexibility and further increase the firmness of the lower hindquarters.

Artiodactyls vary greatly in appearance, with some having very long necks while others are short; some have elongated muzzles, while others have short muzzles, and so on. Female artiodactyls have two to four teats, but members of the pig family have six to twelve teats.

Almost all species have a kind of weapon, whether it be branched horns, forked horns, or well-developed fangs or tusks. They are usually large in males and small or absent in females. The tail consists of longer, stronger guard hairs and a shorter undercoat.

Digestive system

Artiodactyls have one or more digestive chambers located in front of the glandular stomach (abomasum). Most members of the ruminant suborder ( Ruminantia) have a four-chambered stomach, consisting of such departments as: scar, mesh, book and abomasum. This suborder includes such ruminant mammals as cattle, goats, sheep, giraffes, American bison, European aurochs, yaks, Asiatic buffaloes, deer, etc.

Nevertheless, deer (family Tragulidae) within the suborder Ruminants Ruminantia have a three-chambered stomach. Similarly, members of the callus-footed suborder Tylopoda(camels, alpacas, llamas) have a three-chambered stomach.

Note: all of these animals are still considered "ruminants", although camels are not included in the suborder Ruminantia. This is because the term ruminant simply means any artiodactyl that digests food in two stages, first softening it in the first stomach, known as the rumen, then regurgitating the semi-digested mass, now known as cud, and chewing it again. Therefore, the term "ruminant" is not synonymous with Ruminantia.

Pigs and bakers have only one small chamber in front of the abomasum, while hippos have two. While hippos have a three-chambered stomach, they don't "chew gum". Hippos consume grass during the night and during this time they eat about 68 kg. They depend on microorganisms that process coarse fiber in their stomach.

Most pig species have a simple two-chambered stomach that allows for an omnivorous diet; babirussa, however, is a herbivore. They have extra teeth that enable proper chewing of plant material. Most of the fermentation takes place in the caecum with the help of cellulolytic microorganisms.

Habitat

Since artiodactyls are a fairly diverse order, they are distributed throughout the world. Hence, these animals live in a wide range of habitats and can be found where sufficient food is available. Although these animals are distributed from to and , their preferred ones are:

• open : they provide artiodactyls with abundant food, and also allow you to notice predators at a long distance.
• pastures or meadows near steep cliffs: provide food for animals and provide relatively safe shelter in rocks and steep terrain.
• and shrubs: contain an abundance of food and offer shelter from potential predators in dense vegetation.
• ecotone: is an area between open areas and forests. While open areas provide abundant food, adjacent forests provide good cover from potential predators.

The preference for certain habitats is often associated with body size and taxonomy of artiodactyls. For example, most species of goats and rams ( caprinae) are found in open habitats adjacent to rocky cliffs, where they have adapted to move over uneven terrain.

reproduction

Most artiodactyls have a polygynous breeding system, although some species are seasonally monogamous (such as the blue duiker). Artiodactyls usually breed only once a year, although some of them can breed several times. The gestation period varies from 4 to 15.5 months. In addition to pigs, which can have up to 12 cubs at a time, other artiodactyl offspring have up to two cubs, once a year. The weight of artiodactyls at birth can vary from 0.5 to 80 kg. Sexual maturity occurs between the ages of 6 and 60 months. The cubs of all artiodactyls are able to walk independently within a few hours after birth, and some are already running after 2-3 hours. Females take care of their offspring and feed them with their milk for 2-12 months after birth.

Lifespan

The life span of artiodactyls varies between 8-40 years. A large number of studies have shown that the survival rate of adult males is lower than that of females. It is believed that such rates are the result of increased polygyny, which leads to increased competition between males. Research also shows that aging-related mortality begins before about eight years of age for some artiodactyl species, regardless of gender.

Behavior

The social behavior of artiodactyls varies by species. Although some artiodactyls are solitary, most are quite social. It is believed that those living in large groups artiodactyls eat more vegetation because they do not have to constantly inspect the area and monitor the approach of predators. However, if the size of the group increases sufficiently, competition within the same species may occur.

Species living in groups often have a hierarchy, both among males and females. Some species also live in harem groups, with one male, several females, and their offspring in common. In other species, females and young stay together while males are solitary or live in bachelor groups and seek out females only during mating season.

Many artiodactyls are territorial and mark their territory with, for example, specialized glands, feces, or urine. There are species that migrate seasonally, while others remain in the same habitat throughout the year. Artiodactyls can be diurnal, crepuscular or nocturnal. In some species, the wake period varies depending on the season or habitat.

Significance for a person

Artiodactyls have great historical and present economic and cultural value. They served big booty for early hunters. The Cro-Magnons relied heavily on deer for food, hides, tools, and weapons. Around 12,500 years ago, deer remains made up 94% of the bones and teeth found in a cave above the Seu River in France.

Today, many artiodactyl species are still hunted for food and sport (deer, antelope, African buffalo, wild sheep, etc.). In addition, the most important domestic animals are artiodactyls, including cattle, goats, sheep, pigs and camels. Sheep and goats were probably the first animals to be domesticated after dogs, perhaps 8,000 to 9,000 years ago. Livestock today is the backbone of a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide. Artiodactyls, both wild and domesticated, are used by people for meat, fur, milk, fertilizer, medicines, bones, etc.