Muntiacus feae, like other muntjacs, is a generalist omnivore, feeding on herbs and leaves, bark, mushrooms, fruits, and possibly even bird eggs, bird young, and small mammals. Muntiacus feae individuals tend to stick to densely wooded areas, preferring more digestible vegetation over grass. Their rumen has two blind sacs, and food is passed through the digestive system relatively quickly in comparison to grass-eating artiodactyls. Foraging occurs primarily at night; small mammals and birds may be killed with the hooves and tusk-like incisors.
Animal Foods: birds; mammals; eggs
Plant Foods: leaves; roots and tubers; wood, bark, or stems; fruit
Primary Diet: herbivore (Folivore , Frugivore )
Predators of these muntjacs include humans, tigers, leopards, dholes, wild dogs, and pythons, among others. Muntjac young may also be killed by wild boars. Muntiacus feae may bark to let a predator know it has been detected or to alert conspecifics to danger. Foraging at night in dense forest may provide some protection from predation.
Known Predators:
Anti-predator Adaptations: cryptic
Fea's muntjacs, Muntiacus feae, are similar in size to Indian muntjacs, Muntiacus muntjak, which measures 57 cm at shoulder height. Unlike Indian muntjacs, in which males are taller than females, M. feae females are taller than males by 6 to 7 cm. The average weight of an adult M. feae is 22 kg. This small deer is uniformly brown in color with light stripes down the back of the legs and yellow hair at the crown of the head and around the pedicles. Tufts of hair on the forehead may be lighter in color. The relatively long tail is fringed with white hair. The elongated pedicles of males' antlers converge and each has a black line running up its center. The antlers are slightly longer than those of other barking deer (e.g. black muntjac Muntiacus crinifrons, which has antlers that do not exceed 60 mm in length). The long pedicles of muntjacs may be an adaptation to minimize the energy required to regrow antlers after they are shed, as the tropics are relatively nutrient-poor. Males have tusk-like canines that are 1 to 2 cm long.
Average mass: 22 kg.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: female larger; ornamentation
Muntiacus feae, like other muntjacs, has a relatively short lifespan compared to other cervids. Few data are available on the longevity of M. feae, but one wild-born specimen lived to nearly 12 years of age in captivity. Given its rapid maturation and generalist tendencies, M. feae is assumed to fill a duiker-like role in ecosystems and would likely have a similar lifespan of a decade or less.
Range lifespan
Status: captivity: 11.6 (high) years.
Typical lifespan
Status: wild: up to 10 (high) years.
Fea's muntjacs are woodland dwellers, preferring moist sub-tropical forests. They live in evergreen forests as well as teak forests, and rarely leave dense vegetation to forage in fields. They are found at elevations of less than 1500 meters.
Range elevation: 0 to 1500 m.
Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: forest ; rainforest
Fea's muntjacs are found in Thailand and the southernmost region of Myanmar that lies directly to the west of Thailand, known as Tenasserim. Some reports include Laos, Vietnam, and southern China as part of the former range of this species.
Biogeographic Regions: oriental (Native )
Fea's muntjacs are important predators of plants and, possibly, small birds and mammals, in the ecosystems in which they live. Their grazing impacts vegetational community composition.
Fea's muntjaca, like other muntjacs, almost certainly provide meat and skins to the people that live within its range.
Positive Impacts: food ; body parts are source of valuable material
Muntiacus feae can cause damage to trees meant to be harvested as timber crops by eating their bark. Some reports indicate that muntjacs have taken snared game birds.
Negative Impacts: crop pest
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service listed Muntiacus feae as endangered in 1979. The IUCN Red List formerly described M. feae as endangered, but changed its listing to 'data deficient' in 1996 due to a lack of information on population size and range. Fea's muntjacs are not listed in CITES Appendices.
US Federal List: endangered
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: data deficient
Muntiacus feae individuals make barking noises when startled by predators, possibly to alert conspecifics to danger or to let the predator know it has been detected. During mating, Chinese muntjacs (Muntiacus reevesi) make clicking noises with their teeth. The primary mode of communication in M. feae is likely chemical, as it has frontal glands and can evert preorbital glands to mark territory.
Communication Channels: acoustic ; chemical
Other Communication Modes: scent marks
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Fea's muntjacs are closely related to black muntjacs, Muntiacus crinifrons. Fea's muntjacs have an unusually low chromosome number for a mammal (2n = 12 to 14), but a relatively high chromosome number for a muntjac. Genetic studies have shown that M. feae has undergone rapid chromosome evolution compared to other members of the genus Muntiacus, though the genus itself exhibits an elevated rate of change in chromosomal number relative to other mammals.
Males may compete for access to females by sparring with antlers or fighting using their fang-like canines, although little is known directly about M. feae mating. Males likely defend a territory that encompasses that of several females.
Mating System: polygynous
Muntiacus feae likely breeds year-round as do other subtropical muntjacs, but breeding may be concentrated in winter months. The thinner pedicles compared to other members of subfamily Cervinae suggest that intraspecific fighting with antlers in males may have a less important role in competition for mates than in other muntjacs. Little is known about the reproduction of M. feae, but there are likely many similarities to other muntjacs. Chinese muntjacs Muntiacus reevesi have a gestation period of 243 days, with most females reaching sexual maturity by twelve months of age. In Chinese muntjacs, half of conceptions studied in one captive population occurred during the two-week long estrus period that females undergo immediately after giving birth. As is common for most deer, M. feae females usually give birth to one fawn which is darkly colored and remains with the mother until it reaches maturity.
Breeding interval: Breeding occurs throughout the year.
Breeding season: Breeding may be concentrated in the winter months.
Range number of offspring: 1 to 2.
Average number of offspring: 1.
Average gestation period: 8.1 months.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 12 months.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; year-round breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous ; post-partum estrous
Young M. feae stay with their mother until they reach maturity. Fathers have little to do with raising the young, as they remain very territorial throughout the year. The male's territory may encompass that of several females, but competition for resources may occur between males and females. Little is known regarding the involvement of the parents in the raising of young.
Parental Investment: altricial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-independence (Protecting: Female)
The Fea's muntjac or Tenasserim muntjac (Muntiacus feae) is a rare species of muntjac native to southern Myanmar and Thailand. It is a similar size to the common muntjac (adult weight is 18 – 21 kg (40 - 46 lb)). It is diurnal and solitary, inhabiting upland evergreen, mixed or shrub forest (at an altitude of 2500 m (8200')) with a diet of grasses, low-growing leaves, and tender shoots. The young are usually born in dense vegetation, remaining hidden until able to travel with the mother.
It is named after zoologist Leonardo Fea. Its other name comes from the Tenasserim Hills, between Burma and Thailand.
The Fea's muntjac or Tenasserim muntjac (Muntiacus feae) is a rare species of muntjac native to southern Myanmar and Thailand. It is a similar size to the common muntjac (adult weight is 18 – 21 kg (40 - 46 lb)). It is diurnal and solitary, inhabiting upland evergreen, mixed or shrub forest (at an altitude of 2500 m (8200')) with a diet of grasses, low-growing leaves, and tender shoots. The young are usually born in dense vegetation, remaining hidden until able to travel with the mother.
It is named after zoologist Leonardo Fea. Its other name comes from the Tenasserim Hills, between Burma and Thailand.
