Designation of a neotype for Mazama americana (Artiodactyla, Cervidae) reveals a cryptic new complex of brocket deer species

By

Cifuentes Rincón, Analorena
Morales Donoso, Jorge Alfonso
Sandoval, Eluzai
Maluf Tomazella, Iara
Mantellatto, Aline
de Thoisy, Benoit
Duarte, José Maurício Barbanti

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2020

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

958

Pages

143--164

Subjects

Biodiversity , Chromosomes , Cytogenetics , French Guiana , mitochondrial DNA , Morphology , red brocket deer , topotype

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.958.50300

 

Abstract

Mazama americana (red brocket deer) is the genus-type species (first species described for this genus) and the basis for the identity of other Mazama species. Mazama americana is one of the most abundant and widely distributed deer species in the neotropical forest. However, recent studies suggest that this taxon belongs to a species complex. Our goal was to collect an animal at the type locality (topotype) in French Guiana with the aim of characterizing the morphological (biometric, craniometric), cytogenetic (Giemsa, C-banding, G-banding and NOR) and molecular (mitochondrial DNA) features. The comparisons showed that the collected specimen was very similar morphologically to specimens from other South American populations, but it was cytogenetically and molecularly very different from any of the cytotypes already described for this species, corroborating the existence of a complex of cryptic species. The data suggest that the M. americana topotype is a different species from all the cytotypes already described in the literature and which occupy the southern region of the Amazon River. The characterization and designation of the M. americana neotype is the first step toward a taxonomic reorganization of the genus Mazama, with the potential identification of new species.