Moschiola kathygre, Groves & Meijaard, 2005

Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2011, Tragulidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 2 Hoofed Mammals, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 320-334 : 329

2.

Yellow-striped Chevrotain

Moschiola kathygre

French: Chevrotain kathygre / German: Ceylon-Gelbstreifenkantschil / Spanish: Ciervo raton rayado

Taxonomy. Moschiola kathygre Groves & Meijaard, 2005 ,

eastern side of the Sri Lankan Wet Zone, some 30 km south-east of Kandy, Sri Lanka.

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. Wet Zone of Sri Lanka, from Sinharaja Forest Reserve through the lowlands around Colombo north to Katagamuwa on the border of the Dry Zone at 6° 24’ N, 81° 25’ E, and into the highlands at least to the Kandy District.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 43-51 cm, tail 1-3 cm; weight unknown. The color of M. kathygre is much warmer, more ocherous brown than M. indica and M. meminna ; spots and stripes are yellowed, not white; it has at least two tolerably complete longitudinal stripes along the flanks, with an elongated spot-row between them, and two spot-rows above them; the upperstripe curves round on the shoulder to be continuous with the anterior transverse stripes; it has two bold stripes over the haunch, and a third stripe farther back under the tail; the haunch is more densely spotted than M. meminna , and crown and nose are less darkened. On the undersideis a sharp differentiation between a white median strip and the pale ocher of the rest of underside; the lower halves of the hindlimbs are darker. The size of M. kathygre is small compared to M. indica , and hindlegs are relatively short. The following measurements are diagnostic cf. M. indica : tail length max. 2-6 cm, width across canine alveoli greater than 5 cm, least breadth across maxilla maximum 1: 42 cm, braincase breadth maximum 3-3 cm; and the following measurementis diagnostic cf. both M. indica and M. meminna : hindfoot length maximum 11-5 cm. Compared to both other species, rostrum breadth is less relative to skull length; compared to M. meminna , bullae are narrower, especially relative to interbullar distance. Dental formulais10/3,C1/1,P 3/3, M 3/3 (x2)= 34.

Habitat. Forests and forested grasslands, with lakes and rivers of the Sri Lankan wet zone. It apparently also still occurs in urban scrub forest, freely enters rice paddies,is apparently more abundant in secondary forest than in primary, and occurs in rubber plantations and home gardens. All this strongly suggests significant ecological flexibility in this species.

Food and Feeding. Nothing known.

Breeding. Nothing known.

Activity patterns. Nothing known.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Nothing known.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The extent of occurrence of M. kathygreis probably about 15,000 km? within which it probably has an area of occupancy (in terms of available habitat) of about 1500 km ®. On this basis the species could potentially be listed as Vulnerable. However, even though the species is frequently hunted with firearms, there is no suspicion that this is a species prone to wild fluctuations in numbers, it occurs in more than ten locations, and there is no evidence for an ongoing decline in numbers. Changes in the wet zone forest cover cannot be used to infer a decline because of the species’ wide habitat adaptability.

Bibliography. Duckworth & Timmins (2008), Groves & Meijaard (2005).

Figures

1. White-spotted Chevrotain (Moschiola meminna), 2. Yellow-striped Chevrotain (Moschiola kathygre), 3. Indian Chevrotain (Moschiola indica), 4. Silver-backed Chevrotain (Tragulus versicolor), 5. Lesser Indo-Malayan Chevrotain (Tragulus kanchil), 6. Northern Chevrotain (Tragulus williamsoni), 7. Javan Chevrotain (Tragulus javanicus), 8. Greater Indo-Malayan Chevrotain (Tragulus napu), 9. Balabac Chevrotain (Tragulus nigricans), 10. Water Chevrotain (Hyemoschus aquaticus)

Distribution. Wet Zone of Sri Lanka , from Sinharaja Forest Reserve through the lowlands around Colombo north to Katagamuwa on the border of the Dry Zone at 6° 24’ N, 81° 25’ E, and into the highlands at least to the Kandy District.