Vietnam mouse-deer | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Family: | Tragulidae |
Genus: | Tragulus |
Species: | T. versicolor |
Binomial name | |
Tragulus versicolor (Thomas, 1910) |
The Vietnam mouse-deer (Tragulus versicolor), also known as the silver-backed chevrotain, is a species of even-toed ungulate in the family Tragulidae that at present only is known from Vietnam. Until 2004, it was generally treated as a subspecies of the greater mouse-deer (T. napu), though it more closely resembles the lesser mouse-deer (T. kanchil). Recent records of this very poorly known species are missing, but this is more likely due to the difficulty involved in separating it from other mouse-deer and the general absence of field work within its presumed range than it being extinct.