The Amazonian brown brocket (''Mazama nemorivaga''), also known as the small brown brocket, is a small species of

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

that is almost entirely restricted to

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 sout ...

Distribution and habitat

It is known from

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

(in Isla San José of the

Pearl Islands The Pearl Islands (Spanish: Archipiélago de las Perlas or Islas de las Perlas) is a group of 200 or more islands and islets (many tiny and uninhabited) lying about off the Pacific coast of Panama in the Gulf of Panama. Islands The most nota ...

only;

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

subspecies ''M. n. permira''), Colombia,

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, Guyana, Suriname,

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas. ...

, eastern

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

, eastern

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and possibly northern Bolivia. Habitats it is found in include primarily nonflooded Amazonian

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equa ...

, and locally also

tropical deciduous forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

and xeric shrublands, at altitudes up to . However, reports from the latter habitats may actually represent '' M. gouazoubira''.

Breeding

Breeding occurs year-round in some areas, with births tending to be concentrated in the rainy season.

Threats

It is threatened by

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...

and by diseases spread by cattle, but not particularly by hunting.

Taxonomy

It is sympatric with the larger '' M. americana'' over much of its range (the latter tends to have significantly higher population densities), and reportedly also with ''M. gouazoubira'' in a few areas. It was considered a subspecies of ''M. gouazoubira'', with which it is

parapatric In parapatric speciation, two subpopulations of a species evolve reproductive isolation from one another while continuing to exchange genes. This mode of speciation has three distinguishing characteristics: 1) mating occurs non-randomly, 2) gene ...

, until 2000. Under normal viewing conditions it is not easily distinguished from ''M. gouazoubira'', but unlike ''M. americana'' it is gray-brown overall with paler underparts.Rossi, R. V. (2000). ''Taxonomia de Mazama Rafinesque, 1817 do Brasil (Artiodactyla, Cervidae).'' M.Sc. Thesis, Universidade de São Paulo.

References

Mazama (genus) Mammals of Brazil Mammals of Colombia Mammals of Ecuador Mammals of French Guiana Mammals of Guyana Mammals of Central America Mammals of Peru Mammals of Suriname Mammals of Venezuela Fauna of the Amazon Mammals described in 1817 Taxa named by Frédéric Cuvier {{eventoedungulate-stub