UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA

MORPHO-PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON THE DIGESTIVE TRACT OF THE MOUSEDEER

(Tragulus javanicus)

HAWA BT ISMAIL

FPV 1995 1

MORPHO-PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON THE

DIGESTIVE TRACT OF THE MOUSEDEER

(Tragulus javanicus)

HAWA BT ISMAIL

MASTER OF SCIENCE

UNIVERSITI PERTANIAN MALAYSIA

1995

MORPHO-PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON THE

DIGESTIVE SYSTEM OF THE MOUSEDEER

(Tragulus javanicus)

By

HAWA BT ISMAIL

Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the Faculty

of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science Universiti Pertanian Malaysia

June 1995

Dedicated to my daughter, Nasreen

II

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My mo s t s i ncere grat i t ude 1S ext ended t o my

s up e rvi s ory commi t t e e members , A s s o c . P ro f . Dr . Mohama d

H i lmi H a ji Abdu l l ah, As s o c . Pr o f . D r . Mohamed Al i Ra jion

and Dr . Abd ul Ra zak Al imon o f the Fa c ul ty o f Ve t e r i n a ry

Med i c i n e and An ima l S c i ence f o r the i r i nva luab l e adv i c e ,

g ui dan c e ,

thro ugho ut

a s s i s t anc e ,

the c o urs e

s ugg e s t ions and

o f thi s s t udy

p r ep a ra t i on o f thi s the s i s .

en c o uragement

and 1n the

I a l s o wi sh to convey my apprec i a t i on to As s o c.

P ro f . D r . M. K . Vi dyadaran for hi s g u i danc e and adv i c e and

a l s o 1n s o l i c i t ing funds for thi s p r o jec t . S i n c e r e

app r e c i a t ion and g ra t e fuln e s s are a l s o ext ended to D r .

J. B . L i ang o f t h e Divi s i on o f An ima l Re s e arch , MARD I f o r

h e l p ing m e 1n t h e s e l e ct ing t h e exp e r imen t a l de s i gns f o r

t h e in vivo diges t i bi li ty and pas sage s t udi e s , Pro f . D r .

J. V . No l an o f Depar tment o f Biochemi s t ry , M i c r ob io l ogy

and Nut r i t i on , Un ivers i ty o f New Engl and , Armi da le ,

Aus t ra l i a f o r us e f ul d i s c u s s i on 1n int e rp r e ting the

r e s ul t s o f the pa s s a ge ra t e s t udi e s , D r . Jo thi Ma l a r

Panandam o f the Fa cul ty o f Ve t e r i na ry Medi c i n e and An ima l

S c i ence f o r h e l p i ng me wi th the s t a t i s t i c a l ana lys e s , Dr .

H i roshi Kudo f o r a l l owing me t o us e hi s anima l s and f e ed

f o r the n ut r i t iona l experimen t s and to Pro f . D r . Abdul

Hami d Abdul Ra shid of Un ivers i t i Kebang s a an Ma l ay s i a , who

i i i

provi ded me wi th the ini t i al mo t ivat i on t o pursue this

study .

Spe c i a l thanks t o the st a f f o f Anat omy , Nu t r i t i on ,

Physiology , and Rumen Mi crobiol ogy l abora t o r i es,

Depa r tment of Anima l S c i ence , and a l so the st a f f of the

E l e c t ron M i croscopy Uni t , Faculty o f Vet erinary Medic ine

and Animal S c i ence , Universi t i Pertanian Ma l aysi a and to

my f r i ends and col l eagues who have helped in one way or

t he other .

Thi s manuscript and the work i t represents could not

have been achi eved wi thout the sac r i f i c es, pat i enc e ,

understanding and moral support o f my husband , fa ther and

daughter , whose sacri f i ces, encouragements and moral

support are boundl ess .

lV

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............. . .................. . ... iii

LIST OF TABLES ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . . . vii

LIST OF FIGURES . . .... . .... . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . ... . . . . ix

LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

ABSTRACT . ....... . . . . . . . . . ... . ... . . . ... . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . xi i

ABSTRAK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv

CHAPTER

I INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

II LITERATURE REVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Ruminants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Relationship of mousedeer to s uids . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Hofmann's cla s sification of ruminants . . . . . . . . . . 9 Anatomy of the digestive sytem of ruminant s ... 10

The mouth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... . . . . . . . . . . 11 The tongue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 The salivary glands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 The stomach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 The intestines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Ruminant nutrition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Measuring the nutritive value of ruminant diets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Voluntary food intake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Digestion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Digestibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Efficiency of utilization of nutrients . . . . . 24

Use of markers to study the kinetics of ruminant digestion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Rate of pas s age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Measurements of rate of pas s age . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Factors affecting rate of pas s age . . . . . . . . . . 32

III ANATOMY OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT OF THE MOUSEDEER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Materials and methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Animals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 The tongue . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 The salivary glands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Gut studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

v

The tongue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 The salivary glands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Gut studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Statistical analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Resul ts and discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Morphological study of the tongue . . . . . . . . . . 42 Salivary glands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Anatomy of the stomach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

IV D IGESTIBILITY, PASSAGE OF SOLIDS AND L IQUIDS IN THE MOUSEDEER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Materials and methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Animals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 In Vivo digestibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1 Chemical analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1 Degradability of Lundai and pellet in sheep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Passage rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Preparation of markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Administration of markers and sampling procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Analysis of chromium and cobalt . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Preparation of standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Statistical analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Digestibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1 Passage rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

V GENERAL DISCUS S ION AND CONCLUS ION . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

AP PENDICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 7

CURRICULUM VITAE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

PUBLISHED PAPERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Vl

LIST OF TABLES

Tab l e Pa ge

1 Ho fmann 's cl a s s i f i ca t ion o f rumi na n t s . . . . . . . . . . 10

2 An ima l s us ed f o r va r i ous inves t i ga t i ons . . . . . . . . 36

3 An ima l s u s ed f o r the s t udy on the s a l iva ry gl ands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

4 An ima l s u s ed for the s t udy on the gut anat omy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

5 Gro s s morpho lo gy o f the mou s e deer tongue . . . . . . . 44

6 The di s t r ibut ion o f di f f e r ent typ e s o f papi l l ae i n the quadran t s o f the tongue . . . . . . . . 44

7 The s i ze o f di f f e rent typ e s o f pap i l l a e o f pap i l l a e i n t h e quadran t s o f t h e tongue . . . . . 45

8 The mean we ight s o f paro t i d and mandibu l a r g l ands and i t s p e r cen tage t o body we ight o f the mou s e deer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

9 The paro t id and mandibu l a r gl ands o f the mou s e deer compared t o other rumina n t s . . . . . . 55

10 S u r f a ce area o f mous e deer s t oma ch compar tmen t s o f T. javanicus and v a l u e s exp r e s s ed a s a p e r centage o f t he anima l s body we i ght and body l ength . . . . . . .' ............. 59

11 Vo lume o f s t oma ch compa rtmen t s o f T. javanicus and va lues a s a p e r cen tage of i t s total and body we ight and body l ength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

12 In t e s t in a l t ra ct mea suremen t s i n the mou s edeer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

13 Anima l s u s ed f o r nut r i t i ona l exp e r imen t s and p a s sage r a t e s tudies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

14 Chemi ca l . compo s i t ion o f the Lunda i and p e l l e t . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

1 5 Livewe igh t and dry ma t t e r in take o f Lunda i and p e l l e t i n the mou s edeer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Vll

16 The mean dry ma t t e r , dige s t i b l e ene rgy and d i ge s t ib l e c r ude pro t e in in t a ke s o f the mo us edeer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

17 The mean r e t ent ion t ime o f f ood p a r t i c l e s , and 5 and 95% ex cr e t i on t ime i n the mous edeer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

18 The mean r e t en t ion t ime o f f l ui d i n mo us edeer f ed L unda i a n d p e l l e t ma rked wi th coba l t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

19 DM degradib i l ity o f Lunda i and p e l l e t i n c ubated i n the r umen o f sheep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Vlll

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

1 Pattern of Ar tiodac tyl evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2 Map of Africa showing the distribution of water chevrotain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

3 A picture showing the Malaysian lesser mousedeer Tragulus javanicus . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

4 Map of Asia showing the distribution of Indian mousedeer and larger and lesser mousedeer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

5 A schematic representation of the mousedeer tongue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

6 The tongue of the mousedeer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

7 An electron micrograph of the dorsum of the tongue of the mousedeer . . . . . . . . . . 46

8 An electron micrograph of the T2 region of the mousedeer tongue showing tongue-like filiform papillae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

9 An electron micrograph of the T3 region of the mousedeer tongue showing leaf-like filiform papillae . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

10 An electron micrograph of the region T4 of the mousedeer tongue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

11 An electron micrograph of the T5 region of the mousedeer tongue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

12 An electron micrograph of the mousedeer tongue showing the apex of the tongue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

13 The parotid and mandibular glands of the mousedeer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

14 A diagrammatic representation of the mousedeer stomach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

15 The cages used for the nutritional experiment and passage studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

lX

16 The chromium excretion pattern in a mousedeer fed Lundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

17 The chromium excretion pattern in a mousedeer fed p e l l e t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 85

1 8 The cumu l a t ive excr e t i on pat t e rn o f Lunda i and p e l l e t ma rked with chromium . . . . . . . . . 86

19 The coba l t exc ret ion pa t t ern in a mousedeer fed Lundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 8

20 The cobalt excretion pattern in a mousedeer fed pellet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

x

BL

BW

cm

Co

Co-EDTA

CS

C r

°c

g

GR

h

1M

kg

L

M

mg

ml

mm

MRT

%

SEM

VFI

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

body l ength

body we ight

cent ime t er

cobal t

Coba l t -ethylenediamine Te t raa ce t i c

Ac id

concentra t e sel ect ors/ sel ect i ve

f eeders

chromi um

degrees cen t i grade

gram

graz ers /roughage eat ers

hour

int ermediate f e eders

kil ogram

l i t er

met er

milligram

mill i l i t er

mill ime t er

mean re t ent ion t ime

perc ent

scanning e l ec t ron mi croscope

volunt ary feed intake

xi

Abstract of the thesis presented to the Senate of Universiti Pertanian Malaysia in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of

Science.

MORPHO-PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM OF THE MOUSEDEER (Tragulusjavanicus)

By

Hawa Bt I sma i l

June 1 9 95

Cha i rman As s o c . Prof . Dr . Mohamad H i lmi H j. Abdu ll ah

Facu l ty Ve t e r i nary Med i c ine and An ima l Sc i en c e

A l t hough t h e mou s edeer ( Tragulus javanicus) i s

con s i de r ed a ruminan t , i t s s t oma ch compr i s e s o f three

compar tment s only name ly, rumen , r e t i c u l um and aboma s um .

F ew pub l i shed wo rk on the dig e s t ive sys t em o f thi s an ima l

a r e i n i s o l a t ed area s . A s i t i s becomi ng mor e imp o r t a n t

a s a l abora t o ry ruminant mode l , t he p r e s e nt s t udy wil l

p rovi de addi t i ona l and mo re comprehens ive i n f orma t i on on

the anima l , pa r t i c u l a r ly on the mo rpho -phy s i o l ogy o f i t s

d i g e s t ive t ra c t . Th i s s t udy a s s i s t s i n t h e compa r i s on o f

mou s edeer wi th other rumi nan t s and a t t emp t s to c l a s s ify

i t i n the mo s t app rop r i a t e cat egory o f ruminan t s .

Mo rpho l o g i c a l s t udy and di s t r i but i on o f li n gua l

pap i l l a e showed that the mou s edeer has a t ongue s imi l a r

t o tha t of a p i g whi ch i s a non - rumi nan t . Howe ve r , i t i s

s t i l l cons i de r ed a rumi nant becau s e i t ha s a compound

s t oma ch whe r e the oma sum is under deve loped.

xi i

Studies on the shape, weight and locations of the

parotid and mandibular salivary glands showed that the

glands were similar to those of ruminants which were

concentrate selectors . The parotid gland weighed

3 . O±O . Sg and 2. 6±O . 2g In the males and females,

respectively, whereas the mandibular gland we ighed

1. 6±O . 3g in the males and 1. 4±O .3g in the females. The

mean surface area of the rumen was 77 . 7±1 . 0 % of the

stomach surface area, 11.4±0 . 5 % for the reticulum and

10. 9±O. 9% for the abomasum. The mean volume of the

rumino-reticulum was 96.2±O . 2% of the stomach volume

whereas for the abomasum it was 3.8±0. 2 % . The rat io of

the length of the small intestine to body length was

S. 8±0. 7: 1, the length of large intestine to body length

was 2. 4±0. 2: 1 and the total intestinal length to body

length was 8. 2±O. 9:1

In another part of this study, the apparent

digestibility coefficient of Lundai and a commerc ial

pellet diet were found to be 77 . 4±2.6 % and 6S.S±3.4%

respectively. The dry matter (DM) intake was 49. O±5. 3g

DM/kg body weight when Lundai was given and 52.0±1 . 4g

DM/kg body weight when pellet was given. The mean

retention times (MRT) of food particles were 48.3±1.6 h

and 24. 9±O.6 h when fed Lundai and pellet, respectively.

The MRT for fluid food were 14. 8±2. 0 h when fed Lundai

xiii

and 12.3±O.9h when fed pellet.

Except for the tongue and food passage rate, the

results of the study indicate that the mousedeer is a

concentrate selector. However , the passage rate of food

particle was slow, which is not typical of a ruminant of

this small body size. Therefore , further studies on the

rate of passage using a more reliable marker should be

carried out.

XlV

Abstrak tesis yang dikemukakan kepada Senat Universiti Pertanian Malaysia sebagai memenuhi syarat keperluan penganugerahan

ijazah Master Sains.

KAJIAN MORFO-FISIOLOGI TERHADAP SISTEM PENCERNAAN PELANDUK (Tragulus javanicus)

Pengerusi Fakulti

Oleh

Hawa Bt Ismail

Jun 1995

Prof. Madya Dr. Mohamad Hilmi Hj. Abdullah Kedoktoran Veter inar dan Sains Peternakan

Walaupun pelanduk dianggap ruminan perutnya terdiri

daripada tiga bahagian, rumen, retikulum dan abomasum

sahaja. Beberapa kajian yang diterbitkan mengenai sistem

penghadaman haiwan lnl terdapat dalam bahagian

berasingan. Oleh kerana haiwan ini semaki n mendapat

perhatian sebagai model ruminan di makmal, kaj ian lnl

dapat memberi maklumat tambahan dan hurai an terperinci

mengenainya terutamanya mengenai morfo-fisiologi saluran

penghadaman. D i samping itu kajian ini juga dapat

membantu membandi ngkan pelanduk dengan ruminan lain serta

mengkelaskannya ke dalam kumpulan ruminan yang sesuai .

Kajian morfologi termasuk taburan papila lidah

menunjukkan lidah pelanduk mempunyai morfologi serupa

lidah khinzir yang bukan ruminan. Walaupun demikian ia

masih dianggap sebagai ruminan kerana mempunyai perut

majmuk di mana omasumnya ti dak terbentuk sepenuhnya.

xv

Kajian mengenai bentuk, berat dan kedudukan kelenjar

paroti d dan mandi bul menunjukkan ia mempunyai persamaan

dengan ruminan pemilih konsentrat. Berat kelenjar

p aroti d ialah 3. 0 O . 5g dan 2. 6 O. 2g masing-masing pada

jantan dan betina,

i alah 1. 6 O. 3g pada

sedangkan berat kelenjar mandibul

jantan dan 1. 4 0. 3g pada betina.

Purata luas permukaan berbanding luas permukaan perut

untuk rumen ialah 77. 7 1. 0%, retikulum 1 1. 4 0. 5% dan

abomasum 10. 9 0. 9%. Purata isipadu rumen dan retikulum

daripada isipadu perut ialah 96. 2 0. 2% sedangkan abomasum

ialah 3. 8 0. 2 %. Panjang usus keci l relatif kepada

panjang badan i alah 5. 8 0. 7:1, usus besar relatif kepada

panjang badan ialah 2. 4 0. 2:1 dan seluruh usus relatif

kepada panjang badan ialah 8. 2 0. 9:1

Dalam sebahagian lain kajian ini, pekali kehadaman

ketara Lundai dan pellet komersil masing-masing ialah

77. 4 2.6 % dan 65. 5 3. 4%. Pengambilan bahan kering ialah

49. 0 5.3g DM/kg berat badan bila diberi Lundai dan

52. 0 1. 4g DM/kg berat badan bila diberi pellet. Bila

memakan Lundai kadar purata simpanan (MRT) partikel

makanan ialah 48. 3 1. 6 jam dan bila memakan pellet ialah

24. 9 0. 6 jam. MRT untuk cecair ialah 14.8 2.0 jam jika

memakan Lundai dan 12. 3 0. 9 jam jika memakan pellet.

Selain dari pada lidah dan kadar laluan makanan,

kaj i an lnl menunjukkan pelanduk adalah pemilih

XVl

konsentrat. Namun demikian, la mempunyai kadar laluan

partikel makanan yang perlahan untuk ruminan yang kecil

saiz tubuhnya. Oleh yang demikian , kajian lanjut

mengenai kadar laluan dengan penanda yang lebih sesuai

patut dilakukan.

XVll

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

The mousedeer was probably present during the

Oligocene period, about 40 million years ago (Romer ,

1980) . It appears to have evolved from the Docatherium,

a suoid like animal (Figure 1). Such early fossil forms

existed in North America and Europe during that period

f( CAMEL::>

� , � ","O"' CA�

� GIAI'.rr HOG5

PIG5'

� PIG GROUP

""

� �. CATTLE FAMILY

Figure 1. Pattern of Artiodactyl evolut i on (Romer, 1980)

but disappeared from these areas during the late Meiocene

period when there was drastic climatic change (Janis,

1

1984). They migrated to warmer areas where food lS

available throughout the year.

The mousedeer belongs to the Order Ar ti odactyla

(even toed animals), whi ch also includes suids, deer,

c amels, bov ids and giraffes, Suborder Ruminantia and

Infraorder Tragulina. It is classified into the Family

Tragulidae and Genus Tragulus with four exi sting species

f ound in Afri ca and Asia (Janis, 1984; Cobert and Hill,

1991) . Haemoschus aquaticus (water chevrotain) lS found

In west and central Africa (Figure 2). Tragul us memina

is the only Indian spec ies. Ac cordi ng to Harri son,

(1978) and Medway (1983), two species of the mousedeer

F i gure 2. Map of Afr i ca showing the distribut ion of water chevrotai n (shaded port ion)

2

3

a r e p r e sent ln Ma l a ysi a , t hat lS, Tragulus javanicus,

the Ma l ays i an l es s e r mo us edeer and Tragul us napu, the

Ma l ay s i an l a rg e r mo us edeer . However , a n umbe r o f s ub

s p e c i e s were a l s o recogn i zed, s uch a s Tragulus javanicus

pumilus ( Me dway , 1 9 8 3) and Tragulus javanicus klossi

( Payne e t a l . , 1 985) .

O f the Docathe r i um the s ui ds we re the l e a s t modi f i ed

in t h e ir behavi o ur and anatomy . S i n c e the mo us edeer

evo lved f rom the Docathe r i um , it ha s r e t a i ned mo s t of the

l a t t e r 's p r imi t ive behav io ur ( Janis , 1 9 84) . For exampl e ,

i t us e s the snout t o s earch f or f ood and a r e n o t abl e t o

r ise on h i nd q ua r te r s when brows ing . Ano t h e r o f i t s

p rimitive t ra i ts is i t s sol i t a ry na t ure . I t n e i ther have

a l eader nor do es it ma r k home ranges and ado pt s ant i

p a ra l le l s tances when f i ght ing ( Whit tow , 1 9 83). The ma l e

f i nds the f ema l e by o l fact i on and t e s t s h e r ur i n e f o r

e s tr us . The ma l e de t e c t s r e c e pt i ve f ema l e s by pre s s i ng

it s chin on the l a t t e r 's hind qua r t e rs ( Jan i s , 1 9 84) .

They l ie down in an in t e rmediat e , s i t t i ng-on-the-ha unch

p o s i t ion and s ome t ime s with the ba c k ar ched and the l e gs

fo lded beneath the body ( Wh i t t ow , 1 9 83) . Chevro t a i ns

r e ly o n f r ee z ing and c ry pt i c coat c o lo urat i on to avo i d

p r e da t ion ( Ki ngdon , 1 9 7 8) .

The Malaysian lesser mousedeer (Traglll11s javani cus)

(Figure 3) lS the smallest extant ruminant. The live

weight of an adult animal ranges from 735 to 2,100 g

. ,

��.k..' �f -<" /.�

Figure 3. A picture showing the Malaysian lesser mousedeer (Traglllus javaniclls)

(Medway, 1983). The adult body length from the back of

the head to the base of the tail is 3 00 - 450 rum (Harrison,

1978). It is distinguished by a reddish brown colouration

with a n unbroken white line running laterally down the

throat. It is mainly nocturnal but may sometimes become

spontaneously active during the day (Ratnam, 1972;

Davison, 1980) Tragllllls javanj.clls is found in Southeast

Asia, including Myanmar, Thailand, Kampuchea, vie�nam,

Malaysia, Indonesia, Borneo and the Phil ippines (Figure

4)

4

F i gure 4. � o f As ia showing the Indian mous edeer and

1,�:>�ll arger and l es s e r mou s edeer

�'" , .

, 0 (!)

Jt)f!!)

di s t r ibut i on o f

There i s con s i derab l e intere s t i n us ing thi s an imal

as a ruminant model for nut r i t ional s tudi e s ( Kudo et a l .,

1991; Nol an et al., 1994). F rom a meat production point

of vi ew , the mous edeer is an ideal animal s ince it has a

high dre s s ing percentage , high percentage of mus c l e and

l ow percentage o f bone . About 52% o f the carca s s is i n

the f orm o f mus c l e (Vidyadaran et al . , 1983; Vi dyadaran

and Ros l ey , 1992). Fragment ed informat i on on many

asp e c t s o f the mous edeer indi cat es that whi l e the animal

res embl e s a t rue ruminant , there are s everal f eat ures

conunon t o Suida e, such as the presence o f a tus k - l ike

5