杏吧原创

A tiny deer about the size of a Jack Russell terrier has been recognised as the first new deer species found in South America for over 60 years.

It is the newest member of a group of dwarf deer unique to the central Andes. Known as pudu, they range from cold and windswept Andean grasslands to the misty cloud forests of the range鈥檚 lower slopes.

at the Austral University of Chile and his colleagues discovered the new species based on a hunch from team member Javier Barrio. 鈥淗e鈥檇 seen the animals in the field, and they looked different from others in the north,鈥� says D鈥橢lia.

The team went on to check museum specimens, make measurements and test for genetic variation. There were distinct differences on all counts between the pudu in a region called the Huancabamba Depression in Peru and other pudu to the north and south.

The new species has been named Pudella carlae, in honour of the biologist Carla Gazzolo, who once helped save Barrio鈥檚 life.

It has a more rusty-brown body than its relatives, as well as a paler head and ears. At 7 to 9 kilograms and some 38 centimetres tall, its size lies in between that of other known pudu species. It also lives in much drier areas, avoiding the cloud forests and upland bogs favoured by its relatives.

The Huancabamba Depression is where the Maranhao river has cut through the Andes on its way to the Amazon. It is about 50 kilometres wide and its climate is very arid, in strong contrast to the higher and moister areas to the north and south. Its forests are filled with hundreds of endemic plants and animals.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 yet know if the new species arose from a population that became isolated when the depression formed, or from animals that later colonised and adapted, but we intend to find out, says D鈥橢lia.