Tragulus versicolor (Silver-backed Chevrotain)

[Melanie]

There will will be an illustration of the Silver-backed chevrotain in HMW 2. (due out this summer).

see example page number 7 (right)

www.lynxeds.com/hmw/handbook-mammals-world-volume-2

[surroundx]

www.seeker.com/earth/animals/these-are-the-worlds-top-25-most-wanted-animals-for-conservationists

[another specialist]

'Extinct' deer small enough to hold in one hand reappears in wild, giving hope for other endangered species

www.independent.co.uk/news/science/deer-extinct-silver-backed-chevrotain-endangered-species-vietnam-a9198696.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR3-ML8ZDqZMgQKHizG2r_xEESBISLryfMXVTV7qrZ97ZbLPwafjPp7rbyU#Echobox=1573488283

[Melanie]

Great news and even with video. The question is how long will this population survive the hunting pressure.

[Melanie]

The story can be also find at Mongabay:

news.mongabay.com/2019/11/scientists-rediscover-mammalian-oddity-in-remote-vietnam/

[Bhagatí]

Nicely.

Finally I have seen the species return Tragulus versicolor among the living creatures of the Southeast Asian jungle.

I also look forward to it.

Yesterday at the Slovak daily SME reported.
tech.sme.sk/c/22256879/nasli-mysieho-jelena-mysleli-si-ze-je-tridsat-rokov-vyhynuty.html
and tech.sme.sk/g/143700/tragulus-versicolor?photo=p5931078 With 13 photos.


Official statement:
The silver-backed chevrotain is among the 25 “most wanted lost” species that are the focus of Global Wildlife Conservation's Search for Lost Species initiative.[6] In November 2019 it was reported that a team of scientists had successfully photographed the chevrotain in a Vietnamese forest for the first time in 30 years.

Sources:
www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/11/mouse-deer-not-seen-nearly-30-years-found-alive-vietnam
www.npr.org/2019/11/11/778312670/silver-backed-chevrotain-with-fangs-and-hooves-photographed-in-wild-for-first-ti

and revision report of this species:
Camera-trap evidence that the silver-backed chevrotain Tragulus versicolor remains in the wild in Vietnam
www.nature.com/articles/s41559-019-1027-7

[Melanie]

Scientific description:

Oldfield Thomas: Three new Asiatic mammals In: The Annals and Magazine of Natural History Series 8 (No. 5), 1910, pgs 534-536

ia800209.us.archive.org/14/items/annalsmagazineof851910lond/annalsmagazineof851910lond.pdf

[Sebbe]

Call Vietnam mouse-deer ‘cheo cheo’ and let empathy save them from extinction: a conservation review and call for name change.

The rediscovery of the silver-backed chevrotain (Tragulus versicolor), an endemic species to Vietnam, in 2019 – after almost 30 years of being lost to science – is a remarkable outcome for conservation. Since its rediscovery, there has been significant concern for the conservation of the species due to hunting for wild meat, a practice deeply rooted in Vietnamese culture. Conservation plans face multiple obstacles as the species has not yet been listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature due to the lack of data. Given the limited effectiveness of current conservation measures, we propose that local actions, community cooperation, and empathetic values can help conserve the silver-backed chevrotain through integrating modern technologies (e.g. the Internet, crowdfunding platforms, social media, AI, etc.) with citizen and community science. Communicating conservation information to the community, especially children, must stimulate their thinking and imagination about nature, develop their curiosity and desire to protect wildlife, and eventually build conservation and eco-surplus core values in their mindsets. To successfully awaken human values within the community and incorporate them into conservation endeavours, messages referring to ‘mouse-deer’, ‘chevrotain’, or the scientific name T. versicolor are largely ineffective as they fail to engender feelings of familiarity. Therefore, we suggest calling the mouse-deer ‘cheo cheo’, a local name that can create familiarity and closeness, awaken the environmental conscience, and stimulate thinking and imagination. All these factors encourage conservationists, scientists, and the government to support conservation and the community in building a conservation and eco-surplus culture.

www.publish.csiro.au/PC/PC23058

[Sebbe]

Molecular analysis reveals the evolutionary distinctiveness of the Silver-backed Chevrotain within the genus Tragulus.

The Silver-backed Chevrotain (Tragulus versicolor), a mammal endemic to the unique coastal arid ecosystem in south-central Vietnam, is an enigmatic mouse deer with little information available about its ecology and evolutionary history. The recent rediscovery of the species provides a rare opportunity to clarify its taxonomy and phylogenetic relationship within the genus Tragulus. In this study, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial cytochrome b gene for samples of T. versicolor and T. kanchil from Vietnam. Our molecular results show that the species forms a distinct evolutionary lineage sister to all other species in the genus, confirming the earlier hypothesis based on morphological evidence. However, further research is needed to assess the genetic diversity of the species and design appropriate conservation measures. As the species has not been secured over much of its range, it is recommended that the population in Nui Chua National Park, the only one covered by a protected area, be prioritized for conservation actions. Conserving the species in this unique and imperiled ecosystem will also benefits a suite of locally endemic and threatened species of fauna and flora.

www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/mammalia-2024-0004/html