The southern pudu (''Pudu puda'',
Mapudungun
Mapuche (, Mapuche & Spanish: , or Mapudungun; from ' 'land' and ' 'speak, speech') is an Araucanian language related to Huilliche spoken in south-central Chile and west-central Argentina by the Mapuche people (from ''mapu'' 'land' and ''che ...
''püdü'' or ''püdu'', es, pudú, ) is a species of
South American
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 ...
deer native to the
Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
of
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
and
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 ...
. It is found in high-altitude forests and is classified as Near Threatened in the
IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...
.
Description
The southern pudu is characterized by being the second smallest deer in the world. It is slightly larger than its sister species, the
northern pudu
The northern pudu (''Pudu mephistophiles'', Mapudungun language, Mapudungun ''püdü'' or ''püdu'', es, pudú, ) is a species of South American deer native to the Andes of Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador. It is the world's smallest deer a ...
, being tall at the shoulder and weighs . The antlers of the southern pudu grow to be long and tend to curve back, somewhat like a
mountain goat
The mountain goat (''Oreamnos americanus''), also known as the Rocky Mountain goat, is a hoofed mammal endemic to mountainous areas of western North America. A subalpine to alpine species, it is a sure-footed climber commonly seen on cliffs and ...
. Its coat is a dark chestnut-brown, and tends to tuft in the front, covering the antlers.
It is found at lower elevations than its sister species, from
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
to .
Genetic diversity
Analysis of the
mtDNA control region
The mtDNA control region is an area of the mitochondrial genome which is non-coding DNA. This region controls RNA and DNA synthesis. It is the most polymorphic region of the human mtDNA genome, with polymorphism concentrated in hypervariab ...
and
cytochrome b
Cytochrome b within both molecular and cell biology, is a protein found in the mitochondria of eukaryotic cells. It functions as part of the electron transport chain and is the main subunit of transmembrane cytochrome bc1 and b6f complexes.
F ...
of the southern pudu across Chile revealed that different populations have marked genetic differences, with a large number of unique
haplotype
A haplotype ( haploid genotype) is a group of alleles in an organism that are inherited together from a single parent.
Many organisms contain genetic material ( DNA) which is inherited from two parents. Normally these organisms have their DNA or ...
s in each population and few shared haplotypes between populations. This indicates that
gene flow
In population genetics, gene flow (also known as gene migration or geneflow and allele flow) is the transfer of genetic material from one population to another. If the rate of gene flow is high enough, then two populations will have equivalent a ...
is reduced and most populations are reproductively isolated from each other.
The population from
Chiloé Island
Chiloé Island ( es, Isla de Chiloé, , ) also known as Greater Island of Chiloé (''Isla Grande de Chiloé''), is the largest island of the Chiloé Archipelago off the west coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean. The island is located in southern ...
is estimated to have become isolated from continental populations more than 200 thousand years ago and may constitute a separate subspecies.
This reproductive isolation makes each population an important evolutionary unit but also increases their vulnerability since a drastic reduction in the number of individuals would decrease genetic diversity without recovery from migrating individuals coming from neighboring areas.
Further reading
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References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q927065
Capreolinae
Mammals of Chile
Mammals of Argentina
Taxa named by Juan Ignacio Molina
Mammals described in 1782