The cute little mammal looks like a deer who has drunk the magical shrinking potion in Alice in Wonderland. It looks like a deer from every angle (just without antlers), but how can a deer be so small? 

This is a chevrotain, or "mouse-deer," the smallest ungulate in the world. However, it is not accurate to say the mouse-deer is the smallest deer, because it does not belong to the deer family. 

There are 10 species of mouse-deer worldwide. The Asian species may only weigh 0.7 kilogram. The one species living in the rainforests of Central and West Africa can be 10 times larger. But even the largest mouse-deer only reaches 1/200 or 1/300 of a hippo or a white rhino. 

All mouse-deer do not have antlers, but they have canine teeth to protect themselves and fight for mates. Like most ungulates, the mouse-deer are mostly herbivorous. Surprisingly, they occasionally eat insects and crabs, or scavenge for meat and fish. The little creature's preference for seafood shows that it likes the water a lot. Many mouse-deer stay in or beside the water all day long to evade predators. 

Most mouse-deer species are considered "least concern" by the IUCN Red List. But the Balabac mouse-deer in the Philippines has been classified as an endangered species due to hunting and agricultural activities. 

(Cover image via VCG)

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