Journal of the Federated Malay States museums - Sabrizain.org

246 Journal of the F.M.S. Museums. [Vol. VII,
When Miller gave the name canescens to the Malayan
Greater Mouse-deer he compared it with the napu of Lingga
Island, later named T. pretiosus by him ' in the belief that the
latter represented typical T. javanicm napu. He his since
written " Tragulus napu. (of Sumatra) proves to be a greyish
animal quite distinct from T. pretiosus but somewhat closely
resembling T. canescens of the Malay Peninsula," 2 and again
later " The common peninsular Tragulus canescens differs very
slightly, if at all, from the Sumatran T. napu. In naming it I
was under the impression that the napu of Lingga Island
I T. pretiosus) represented the Sumatran animal. '"3
When Wrought! >n wrote (l.c.s.) of South Tenasserim
animals " Geographically they should be the T. canescens of
Miller, but differ so markedly in several characters from his
description that I prefer to retain the older name," he was
perhaps unaware of this or that Miller's description, being
wrongly based, might convey a wrong impression.
I have compared a series ranging from South Tenasserim
to Singapore, with specimens from Sumatra and cannot find any
differences: and as long as the occurrence of a distinct race in
the Peninsula remains unproven, as seems to be the case,
we have no right to use a distinct name for Malayan animals
which should therefore stand as T.j. napu.
Habitat:— Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula.
Specimens examined:- Fourteen.
Tragulus javanicus umbrinus.
Tragulus umbrinus, Miller, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington,
XIII. 1900, p. 191.
Tragulus (canescens) umbrinus, Kloss, Journ. F.M.S. Mus.
II, 1908. p. 148; id. (partim) Journ. Straits Branch Roy.
Asiat. Soc, No. 53, 1909, p. 44.
Tragulus javanicus umbrinus, Lydekker, Cat. Ung. Brit.
Mus., IV, 1915, p. 273.
"Similar to T. canescens of the adjacent mainland but
smaller in size and much darker in colour. Throat stripes
blackish brown with scarcely a trace of pale speckling.
Belly heavily washed with fulvous grey " {Miller).
We have only one rather immature example from the
Langkawi Islands but it closely agree- with the above characterization.
It is of a richer yellow than the mainland animal
and more heavily clouded with blackish— the two colours
more finely intermixed—and the sides of neck and body and the
1 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1902, p. 144
^Proc. U. S. Nat Mus., XXVI, 1903, p 4 ;
3 Proc. U. S Nat. Mus., XXXVII, p. 5 .