Stain edging
| Stain edging | ||||||||||||
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India-Kantschil |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Moschiola | ||||||||||||
| Gray , 1852 |
Fleckenkantschile ( Moschiola ) are a genus of deer piglets with three species . They are only slightly larger than the Kleinkantschil and are therefore among the smallest cloven-hoofed animals .
Speckled edges reach a head-torso length of 46 to 60 centimeters, a shoulder height of 25 to 30 centimeters and a weight of 2.2 to 2.7 kilograms. Their fur is colored gray on the upper side and provided with white spots arranged in strips. There are five to seven white stripes on the throat, and the belly is also white. In terms of physique, with their stocky body and graceful legs, they resemble the other stag piglets, as they have neither horns nor antlers. As with the other species, the upper canines are enlarged, more in the male than in the female.
Fleckenkantschile live in India and Sri Lanka , possibly also in southern Nepal . Their habitat is likely to be forests with dense undergrowth.
Hardly anything is known about their way of life, presumably it corresponds to that of the other Kantschiles. They are exclusively nocturnal and very shy, which is why you can hardly see them. To get ahead more quickly, they create trails in the thicket. Presumably they are territorial and live solitary or in monogamous couples. Their diet consists of leaves, buds and fruits.
Due to their withdrawn way of life, there is hardly any information about the degree of endangerment, but the IUCN classified the three species as “not endangered” ( least concern ) in 2008 .
Fleckenkantschile are closely related to the Klein- and Großkantschil (genus Tragulus ) and are sometimes classified in the same genus. However, they differ mainly in the presence of the spots and the absence of a gland in the lower jaw.
Usually, all of the stain edges are grouped into one type. According to morphological studies by Groves and Meijaard (2005), however, three species can be distinguished according to the phylogenetic species concept :
- the Indian Kantschil ( Moschiola indica (Gray, 1852) ) on the Indian mainland,
- the Ceylon-Kantschil ( Moschiola meminna (Erxleben, 1777) ) in the arid regions of Sri Lanka and
- the yellow- stripe kantschil ( Moschiola kathygre Groves & Meijaard, 2005 ) in the wetlands of Sri Lanka.
Web links
- Moschiola indica , Moschiola meminna and Moschiola kathygre in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2010. Retrieved on 27 January 2011th
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
Remarks
- ^ Colin P. Groves, Erik Meijaard: Intraspecific variation in Moschiola, the Indian Chevrotain . In: The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology . Supplement 12, 2005, p. 413-421 ( PDF, 222 kB ). PDF, 222 kB ( Memento of the original from July 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 2 (preview) ( Memento of the original dated February 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved January 27, 2011
