CHEVROTAIN or MOUSE-DEER, the representatives of the family Tragulidae. These tiny animals are not true deer, but constitute a special section of artiodactyles known as Tragulina (see ARTIODACTYLA). The typical genus Tragulus, which is Asiatic, contains the smallest representa tives of the family, the animals having more of the general as pects and habits of rodents than of ruminants. A number of spe cies are known, inhabiting the Malay Peninsula, the Indo-Malay Archipelago, Ceylon, and India.
The second genus, Dorcatheriurn, is African, and distinguished by the feet being stouter and shorter, the outer toes better developed, and the two middle metacarpals not welded together. The only existing species, D. aquaticum, is rather larger than any of the Asiatic chevrotains, which it otherwise much resembles, but is said to frequent the banks of streams, and have much the habits of pigs. It is of a rich brown colour, spotted and striped with white. Remains of a species only differing in size (D. crassum) have been found in the Miocene deposits of France.