The red brocket (''Mazama americana'') is a species of
brocket deer from forests in
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
, ranging from northern
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
to
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
and the
Guianas
The Guianas, sometimes called by the Spanish loan-word ''Guayanas'' (''Las Guayanas''), is a region in north-eastern South America which includes the following three territories:
* French Guiana, an overseas department and region of France
* ...
.
It also occurs on the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
island of
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
(it also occurred on the island of
Tobago
Tobago () is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trini ...
until very recent historical times, but has been extirpated there).
Taxonomy
It formerly included the
Central American red brocket
The Central American red brocket (''Mazama temama'') is a species of brocket deer ranging from southern Mexico, through Central America, to northwestern Colombia.
Taxonomy
In 1792 Robert Kerr originally described it as a unique separate spe ...
(''M. temama'') and sometimes the
Yucatan brown brocket
The Yucatan brown brocket (''Odocoileus pandora'') is a small species of deer native to Central America.
Taxonomy
It has been previously treated as a disjunct subspecies of the gray brocket (''Mazama gouazoubira)'' or a subspecies of the re ...
(''M. pandora'') as
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
.
Considerable
taxonomic
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
confusion still exists for the populations remaining in the red brocket. Pending a solution to this, it has been evaluated as
data deficient
A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...
by the
IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
,
though as presently defined, it is the most widespread species of brocket. It is
sympatric
In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species sh ...
with the smaller
Amazonian brown brocket
The Amazonian brown brocket (''Mazama nemorivaga''), also known as the small brown brocket, is a small species of deer that is almost entirely restricted to South America.
Distribution and habitat
It is known from Panama (in Isla San José of th ...
over much of its range (the latter tends to have significantly lower population densities). The
karyotype
A karyotype is the general appearance of the complete set of metaphase chromosomes in the cells of a species or in an individual organism, mainly including their sizes, numbers, and shapes. Karyotyping is the process by which a karyotype is disce ...
of the red brocket was initially described as having
2n = 68,
FN = 74, and more recently as having 2n varying from 48 to 54 and FN varying from 54 to 56.
This variability may indicate the presence of unrecognized species in the population.
Description
Its body is reddish-brown in color, with a lighter grayish-brown head and neck, and partially blackish legs.
[Trolle, M., and L. H. Emmons (2004). ''A record of a dwarf brocket from lowland Madre de Dios, Peru.'' Deer Specialist Group Newsletter 19: 2–5] The inner thighs and the underside of the tail are white. Fawns are spotted white and lack blackish to the legs.
[ Only the adult male has antlers, and these are small and spike-like. This species is the largest of the brockets. The shoulder height is and the head and body length .][ These deer typically weigh ,][ but exceptional males may get as large as .
]
Diet and behaviour
The red brocket browses on vegetation (mainly grasses and tender green roots), preferring fruit and seeds when it is available. They are also known to feed on fungi. In extreme cases where fruit and fungi become scarce, it may eat stems, bark, petioles, leaves, and animal matter instead. It is generally solitary and stays in dense jungles. When alarmed, the animal snorts or stomps its hooves.
Gallery
File:Mazama americana.jpg, Mazama americana
File:Red Brocket (Mazama americana).jpg, Red brocket heart, specimen clarified for visualization of anatomical structures
File:PZSL1850PlateMammalia24.png
References
Bibliography
* Emmons, L.H. (1997). ''Neotropical Rainforest Mammals'', 2nd ed. University of Chicago Press
External links
Images and information
@ Arthurgrosset.com
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1763357
Mazama (genus)
Taxa named by Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben
Mammals of the Caribbean
Mammals of Argentina
Mammals of Bolivia
Mammals of Brazil
Mammals of Colombia
Mammals of Ecuador
Mammals of French Guiana
Mammals of Guyana
Mammals of Paraguay
Mammals of Peru
Mammals of Suriname
Mammals of Trinidad and Tobago
Mammals of Venezuela
Fauna of the Amazon
Fauna of the Cerrado
Mammals described in 1777