NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Northern Red Muntjac
Muntiacus vaginalis (Boddaert, 1785)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Northern Red Muntjac female, Muntiacus vaginalis in Khao Yai national park, Thailand This photo is published under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike Licence. You are free to use this image, as long as it is shared with attribution under the same licence together with the appropriate credits: By: Tontan Travel Link: <a href="http://www.tontantravel.com/" rel="nofollow">www.tontantravel.com/</a>
tontantravel · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The northern red muntjac (Muntiacus vaginalis) is a species of muntjac. It is found in numerous countries of south-central and southeast Asia.
The northern red muntjac inhabits various forest types, from tropical rainforests to deciduous and evergreen forests, and is adaptable to secondary forests and human-altered landscapes.
Males are characterized by short antlers and elongated upper canines, which they use in territorial and mating disputes. The species is known for its distinctive bark-like calls, serving as alarm signals (against predators such as pythons, golden jackals, tigers, leopards, and crocodiles) or communication between individuals.
Wikipedia contributors, Northern red muntjac; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:42:17.787311+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Muntiacus vaginalis (Boddaert, 1785)
- Name authority
- (Boddaert, 1785)
- Common name
- Northern Red 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderArtiodactyla Owen, 1848
- familyCervidae Goldfuss, 1820
- subfamilyCervinae Goldfuss, 1820
- tribeMuntiacini Knottnerus-Meyer, 1907
- genusMuntiacus Rafinesque, 1815
- speciesMuntiacus vaginalis (Boddaert, 1785)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Muntiacus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Bornean Yellow MuntjacMuntiacus atherodes Groves & Grubb, 1982 | CervidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Fea's MuntjacMuntiacus feae (Thomas & Doria, 1889) | CervidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Indian muntjacMuntiacus muntjak (Zimmermann, 1780) | CervidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Malabar Red MuntjacMuntiacus malabaricus Lydekker, 1915 | CervidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black MuntjacMuntiacus crinifrons (P. L. Sclater, 1885) | CervidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Gongshan MuntjacMuntiacus gongshanensis Ma, 1990 | CervidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Puhoat MuntjacMuntiacus puhoatensis Trai, 1997 | CervidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Leaf DeerMuntiacus putaoensis Amato, Egan & Rabinowitz, 1999 | CervidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Reeves' MuntjacMuntiacus reevesi (Ogilby, 1839) | CervidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Roosevelt MuntjacMuntiacus rooseveltorum Osgood, 1932 | CervidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Annamite MuntjacMuntiacus truongsonensis (Giao, Tuoc, Eric [Wikramanayake], Dung et al. in Ha, 1997) | CervidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Cervus vaginalis Boddaert, 1785 Boddaert, 1785 | synonym |
| Muntiacus muntjak guangdongensis Li & Xu, 1996 Li & Xu, 1996 | synonym |
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.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1277264 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.
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:QSBW9. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.