Interspecific Variation In Moschiola, The Indian Chevrotain
Author
Groves, C. P.
Author
Meijaard, E.
text
Raffles Bulletin of Zoology
2005
suppl 12
2005-01-31
s 12
413
422
journal article
165239
10.5281/zenodo.7187409
ee227e44-18a0-4664-bc5f-4389eb64661c
2345-7600
7187409
3.
Moschiola kathygre
new species
Type
. –
B.M. 46.209, skin and skull.
Type
locality. –
Kumbalgamuwa,
7°06’N
,
80°51’E
,
747m
(=
2454 feet
),
Kandy District
,
Central Province
,
Sri Lanka
.
Distribution. –
Wet Zone of
Sri Lanka
, from Sinharaja Forest 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.
Diagnosis. –
Coloura muchwarmer, more ochery brownthan other species; spots and stripes are yellowed, not white; at least twotolerably complete longitudinal stripes along flanks, with an elongated spot-row between them, and two spotrows above them; the upper stripe curves round on shoulder to be continuous with the anterior transverse stripes; two bold stripes over the haunch, and a third one further back under the tail; haunch is more densely spotted; crown and nose less darkened; on underside is a sharp differentiation between a white median strip and the pale ochery of the rest of underside; lower halves of the hindlimbs are darker. Size small, hindlegs relatively short. The followingmeasurements are diagnostic cf.
M. indica
(in mm): tail length max. 26, width across canine alveoli <50, least breadth across maxilla max. 14.2, braincase breadth max. 33; andthefollowing is diagnostic cf. both
M. indica
and
M. meminna
: hindfoot length max. 115. Compared to both other species, rostrum breadth is less relative to skull length; compared to
M. meminna
, bullae are narrower, especially relativeto interbullar distance.
Fig. 11. Skins of
Moschiola
, ventral view. Left to right:
Moschiola kathygre
,
new species
(BM 77.4.14.1),
M. meminna
(BM 15.3.1.251),
M. indica
(BM 19.6.3.86).
Etymology. –
Greek
kathygre
, feminine of
kathygros
(
kata
[down from, on account of] +
hygros
[wetness], hence = growing in wet places, with reference toits Wet Zone habitat).