Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Natasha Mannion, Dr Rachel GaultonORCiD, Dr Marion PfeiferORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Pure white animals have long been regarded as unusual and prized by hunters. For the first time, we report an incidence of a white lesser mouse deer (Tragulus kanchil), observed by camera trap in Brunei Darussalam. This adult individual was recorded on four separate occasions in the same location. Although the underlying cause of this rare phenotype is undeterminable from camera trap images, the individual does not display the pink eyes commonly characteristic of albinism. It is surprising that this individual has survived to adulthood, as its bright white colouration makes it more vulnerable to predation, as well as a target for hunters. Further study of this individual could reveal insights into how it has survived, and the genetic health of the local population of T. kanchil.
Author(s): Mannion NLM, Charles JK, Gaulton R, Wong Sia How J, Khalid S, Pfeifer M, Slik JWF
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Mammalia
Year: 2023
Volume: 87
Issue: 6
Pages: 587-590
Online publication date: 20/10/2023
Acceptance date: 12/09/2023
Date deposited: 30/10/2023
ISSN (print): 0025-1461
ISSN (electronic): 1864-1547
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH
URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2023-0080
DOI: 10.1515/mammalia-2023-0080
ePrints DOI: 10.57711/g5ya-yn71
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
