Roosevelt Muntjac

Open encyclopedia reference

A single specimen of the Roosevelt's muntjac or Roosevelt's barking deer (Muntiacus rooseveltorum) was presented to the Field Museum in 1929 following the Kelley-Roosevelts expedition organized by Theodore (Jnr) and Kermit Roosevelt. The specimen is slightly smaller than the common muntjac and DNA testing has shown it to be distinct from recently discovered muntjac species. It is a subspecies of Fea's muntjac, whose home range is mountains further northwest separated by lower land. However, without further evidence, the exact position of Roosevelt's muntjac cannot be stated. Berlin Zoo supposedly held this species between 1961 and 1972 (following an import from Northern Vietnam) but it could have been an Indian muntjac, subspecies annamensis.

Roosevelt's muntjac was believed to have been extinct since 1929. However, there have been several recent claims to have rediscovered the species, from evidence including skulls owned by villagers in the Truong Son (Annamite) mountains of northern Laos and far northwestern Vietnam. More recently, photographs from a camera trap at Xuan Lien Nature Reserve in Vietnam appear to have identified two individuals.

Wikipedia contributors, Roosevelt's muntjac; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:04:57.535719+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Muntiacus rooseveltorum Osgood, 1932

Name authority

Osgood, 1932

Common name

Roosevelt Muntjac

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Artiodactyla

Family

Cervidae

Genus

Muntiacus

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderArtiodactyla Owen, 1848
12. familyCervidae Goldfuss, 1820
13. subfamilyCervinae Goldfuss, 1820
14. tribeMuntiacini Knottnerus-Meyer, 1907
15. genusMuntiacus Rafinesque, 1815
16. speciesMuntiacus rooseveltorum Osgood, 1932

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Muntiacus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 50 records assigned to Cervidae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=898205 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:44KXS. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.