Marsh deer
Marsh deer | |
---|---|
Male marsh deer | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Family: | Cervidae |
Subfamily: | Capreolinae |
Genus: | Blastocerus Wagner, 1844 |
Species: | B. dichotomus
|
Binomial name | |
Blastocerus dichotomus (
Illiger , 1815) | |
Geographic range: Red=Former; Yellow=Present |
The marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus) is the largest deer species from South America.
Distribution
It is found in
Blastocerus.The latter half of its scientific name refers to the forked antlers.
Description
Marsh deer resemble the North American
The hoof, which is large in relation to the body, has elastic interdigital membranes which are useful for swimming and walking on marshy surfaces. Only the males possess antlers which are ramified and reach a length of 60 centimetres (24 in). An adult typically grows to a weight of 80 to 125 kg (176 to 276 lb), although an occasional big male can weigh up to 150 kg (330 lb).[7]
Ecology and behavior
They are solitary animals or living in groups with less than 6 individuals with only an adult male. Their main predators are the jaguar and the puma.
Habitat
The marsh deer lives only in marsh areas, notably the
Diet
Since marsh deer live near aquatic habitats, they eat a majority of their diet in aquatic plants. A study was conducted and they found 40 different species of plants in which they ate. The main food component was
Reproduction
Usually the rutting season coincides with the dry season but can change from animal to animal. They may use this to their advantage for breeding or finding mates because the densities of marsh deer are significantly higher on the Rio Negro marshland boundary during the dry season compared to the less dense, more distributed population during the flooded season.[8] Gestation lasts approximately 271 days.[10] The offspring (normally one per female, though occasionally twins are born) are born between October and November. The infant deer are whitish which becomes more adult-like after a year.
Conservation
The natural predators of the marsh deer – the jaguar (locally called onça or yaguaraté) (Panthera onca) and the puma (Puma concolor)— have almost completely disappeared from its habitat. The former major threat was poaching for its antlers, but this is somewhat under control. Destruction of its habitat presents nowadays the major threat to marsh deer. The Yacyretá Dam altered an area in which several hundred individuals lived and the draining of marshes for farmland and cattle farming threaten hundreds of hectares every year in Argentina and Brazil. Contagious diseases from cattle are also a problem, though it has been shown that the deer is not affected by brucellosis. In October 2018, Argentina established the Ciervo de los Pantanos National Park to help protect this species.[11]
References
- ^ . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
- ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
- ^ Thornback, J., and M. Jenkins. 1982. The IUCN mammal red data book, Part 1: Threatened mammalian taxa of the Americas and the Australian zoogeographic region (excluding Cetacea). IUCN. 516 pp.
- ^ Cabrera, A. 1961. Catalogo de los mamiferos de America del Sur. Rev Mus Argentino Cien Nat Bernardino Rivadavia. 4:1-732.
- ^ Tomas, W.M., M. Beccaceci, and L. Pinder. 1997. Cervo-do-pantanal (Blastocerus dichotomus). Biologia e Conservacao de Cervideos Sul Americanos. 24-38.
- ^ [1] Archived 2011-08-11 at the Wayback Machine (2011).
- ^ [2] Archived 2013-05-18 at the Wayback Machine (2011).
- ^ a b Tomas, W.M., S.M. Salis, M.P. Silva, and G.M. Mourao. 2001. Marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus) distribution as a function of floods in the Pantanal Wetland, Brazil. Studies on Neotropical Fauna & Environment. 56:9-13.
- ^ Tomas, W.M., and S.M. Salis. 2000. Diet of the marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus) in the Pantanal wetland, Brazil. Studies on Neotropical Fauna & Environment. 35:165–172.
- ^ Duarte, J.M.B. & Garcia, J.M. (1995). Reprodução assistida em Cervidae brasileiros. Revista Brasileira de Reprodução Animal 19(1-2): 111-121.
- ^ "Register". Retrieved 11 October 2018 – via Facebook.
External links
- Media related to Blastocerus dichotomus at Wikimedia Commons
- Data related to Blastocerus dichotomus at Wikispecies