Pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus), a cervid counterpart to a combination of reedbuck (Redunca) and oribi (Ourebia)

Ozotoceros bezoarticus (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pampas_deer and https://www.flickriver.com/photos/tags/ozotocerosbezoarticus/interesting/)

BEZOARTICUS

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-pampas-deer-adult-female-in-the-serra-da-canastra-national-park-100398200.html?imageid=E4A2251E-004A-4A56-8EB2-16B8FFBB0BBE&p=283705&pn=1&searchId=74211a6e64db02bb79c442f99caae331&searchtype=0

https://www.flickr.com/photos/janharteman/8058927300/

https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/1071836031

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/deer-walking-across-dry-foliage-serra-175235843

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/endangered-pampas-deer-walks-open-cerrado-2147514817

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/O._bezoarticus_buck.jpg

https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/pampas-deer-gm1304401153-395569679?phrase=pampas%20deer

https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/young-pampas-deer-in-dry-fields-gm883088202-245660503?phrase=pampas%20deer

https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/pampas-deer-gm1304400868-395569580?phrase=pampas%20deer

LEUCOGASTER

https://www.alamy.com/pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-male-female-pair-pantanal-brazil-image263004423.html

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-portrait-threatened-pantanal-ecosystem-125331082.html?imageid=D4E39339-BC1E-4FBD-A41D-D5DA839A8CC6&p=360666&pn=2&searchId=ed47bee1ed271ad3ec6b2a3ea03a7edd&searchtype=0

https://www.mindenpictures.com/stock-photo-pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-portrait-threatened-pantanal-naturephotography-image00300167.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pampas_deer#/media/File:Pampas_deer_nursing_fwan.jpg

https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/photo/pampas-deer-royalty-free-image/6591-001066

http://animal.memozee.com/Arch08/1605696453.jpg

https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-pampas-deer-eating-grass-image10037244

https://www.flickr.com/photos/micguti/35629446245

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-pampas-deer-meadow-pantanal-brazil-1821705413

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-pampas-deer-grazing-sunset-pantanal-1821704966

https://www.alamy.com/pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-female-standing-portrait-southern-pantanal-mato-grosso-do-sul-state-brazil-image262947078.html

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-pampas-deer-in-the-pantanal-south-97949283.html?imageid=5352099C-0F20-4867-88D5-D9788C22779A&p=283705&pn=1&searchId=74211a6e64db02bb79c442f99caae331&searchtype=0

https://www.alamy.com/close-up-of-a-pampas-deer-at-sunset-pantanal-brazil-image332972897.html?imageid=A49E14CD-A1AF-4C13-9F9D-DCC72EBE6154&p=164502&pn=1&searchId=74211a6e64db02bb79c442f99caae331&searchtype=0

https://www.alamy.com/pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-female-pantanal-mato-grosso-do-image156274261.html?imageid=BF697E47-C07A-4203-A9A9-32450CE32053&p=183828&pn=1&searchId=74211a6e64db02bb79c442f99caae331&searchtype=0

https://www.alamy.com/pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-image471722839.html?imageid=C3219AF2-099B-4FBC-8420-107F50FE2DDB&p=59099&pn=1&searchId=74211a6e64db02bb79c442f99caae331&searchtype=0

https://www.alamy.com/pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-image471722845.html

https://www.alamy.com/pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-image471722891.html

https://www.alamy.com/pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-closeup-image471723130.html

https://www.alamy.com/pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-doe-image471648515.html

https://www.alamy.com/pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-male-pantanal-mato-grosso-do-sul-image156274255.html

https://www.alamy.com/pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-feeding-pantanal-brazil-image263004428.html

https://www.alamy.com/pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-at-caiman-ranch-in-the-southern-pantanal-in-brazil-image344184872.html

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-pampas-deer-in-the-pantanal-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-101298369.html

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-pampas-deer-in-the-pantanal-south-97949154.html

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-young-pampas-deer-in-the-pantanal-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-101298366.html

https://www.alamy.com/pampas-deer-photographed-at-fazenda-barranco-alto-brazil-image409799958.html?imageid=D21A2FD6-CC28-4294-A563-850ABCB040E6&p=1386017&pn=1&searchId=74211a6e64db02bb79c442f99caae331&searchtype=0

https://www.alamy.com/pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-male-stands-in-grass-pantanal-mato-grosso-do-sul-brazil-image226563013.html?imageid=CD1AB8B3-4C70-49BF-B30B-27AA58B3D542&p=183828&pn=1&searchId=74211a6e64db02bb79c442f99caae331&searchtype=0

https://www.alamy.com/fmea-de-veado-campeiro-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-com-seu-filhote-no-pantanal-mato-grossense-miranda-mato-grosso-do-sul-brasil-30dez2011-a-female-pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-with-its-fawn-in-the-brazilian-pantanal-miranda-mato-grosso-do-sul-brazil-dec-30-2011-fotophoto-daniel-de-granville-fotoarena-image209093717.html?imageid=7953B609-7B52-4873-BAC6-F72EDE2FBFFC&p=304085&pn=2&searchId=ed47bee1ed271ad3ec6b2a3ea03a7edd&searchtype=0

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-mother-and-young-pantanal-brazil-125609752.html?imageid=1DCFAFB0-0F41-4B4B-AFA5-19613CBBEBF9&p=361890&pn=2&searchId=ed47bee1ed271ad3ec6b2a3ea03a7edd&searchtype=0

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-male-foraging-in-swamp-pantanal-125609753.html?imageid=3DF50F52-1F3E-4475-B50B-46220DB05371&p=361890&pn=2&searchId=ed47bee1ed271ad3ec6b2a3ea03a7edd&searchtype=0

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-portrait-threatened-pantanal-ecosystem-125331081.html?imageid=DEA98462-04F4-4C99-8CED-1A6706E8DEB5&p=360666&pn=2&searchId=ed47bee1ed271ad3ec6b2a3ea03a7edd&searchtype=0

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-portrait-threatened-pantanal-ecosystem-125331083.html?imageid=E1FE120B-4B62-43B6-B06A-C77F495A0608&p=360666&pn=2&searchId=ed47bee1ed271ad3ec6b2a3ea03a7edd&searchtype=0

https://www.alamy.com/pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-female-pantanal-mato-grosso-do-image156274261.html

CELER

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/36193841

https://www.collett-trust.org/species-detail?ft=&id=434&rp=es

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/133542199

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/133542203

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/133542192

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/21215735

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/12804701

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/12245008

URUGUAYENSIS/ARERUNGUAENSIS

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Venado-UY-Ozotoceros_bezoarticus.jpg

https://www.alamy.com/pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus-uruguay-image61338348.html?imageid=1B83B511-5BC7-40A2-9FFD-81BECE0CDC0E&p=186545&pn=2&searchId=ed47bee1ed271ad3ec6b2a3ea03a7edd&searchtype=0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2l2pQJROnc

https://www.zoochat.com/community/media/pampas-deer-ozotoceros-bezoarticus.489469/

https://www.zoochat.com/community/media/pampas-deer.151174/

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Venado-Campo-UY-Ozotoceros_bezoarticus.jpg

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cdtimm/29235995873

Posted on October 8, 2022 09:33 PM by milewski milewski

Comments

Redunca (bovid) and Ozotoceros (cervid) do share similar/convergent degrees of external traits/patterns. Of course, this is just postulation, but could it be, that perhaps Odocoileus/direct chrono genera of Odocoileus, are the ancestor(s) of Ozotoceros? They look stunningly similar, to the Odocoileus, even as they’re more related to Mazama?

Posted by paradoxornithidae over 1 year ago

@paradoxornithidae

I agree that, of all the South American deer other than Odocoileus virginianus itself (which has penetrated quite deeply into this continent), Ozotoceros bezoarticus is the one most resembling O. virginianus.

The main differences seem to be in body size and the proportional size of the tail.

At about 25 kg average body mass for adult females, O. bezoarticus is smaller than the smallest subspecies of O. virginianus (about 30 kg). It is also smaller than any species of reedbuck (Redunca fulvorufula, about 30 kg).

So, diminution is an important aspect of the evolution of O. bezoarticus, relative to both ancestral Odocoileus and ecologically comparable Redunca.

The proportional diminution of the tail in O. bezoarticus is understandable in view of the plasticity of the size of the tail in Odocoileus. This has brought the size of the tail in O. bezoarticus towards that in Redunca redunca. However, a considerable difference remains, in not only in the proportional size of the tail, but also its colouration and activation as a caudal flag.

Redunca redunca: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Bohor_Reedbuck%2C_female%2C_Serengeti.jpg

Ozotoceros bezoarticus:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/janharteman/8058927300/

The tail and hindquarters of O. b. leucogaster resemble those of Ourebia montana (body mass about 15 kg) as much as those of Redunca:
https://psnp.info/p4td_/?p=15987

They also resemble those of some individuals of Odocoileus hemionus columbianus:
https://www.alamy.com/stock-image-cautious-black-tailed-deer-looking-back-167296028.html?imageid=CF489FF2-F8E6-4478-862A-B46B1E801B70&p=259859&pn=2&searchId=b73df524765636058fee1000c4f1963d&searchtype=0

However, most individuals of the latter have the tail longer than in O. bezoarticus:
https://www.alamy.com/columbian-black-tailed-deer-family-grazing-rear-views-image417742085.html

Posted by milewski over 1 year ago
Posted by milewski over 1 year ago

Shift
One of the best illustrations of juvenile in Ourebia montana cottoni/masakensis:
https://psnp.info/p4td_/?p=15987

Posted by milewski over 1 year ago

Is there any particular reason, why the tail is diminutive, particularly, in the above, aforementioned taxa (that fir the reduced tail criterion) of ruminants? Even the related (via the Odocoileini tribe/clade) Odocoileus genus doesn’t display such a trait, as seen here (https://i0.wp.com/coloradooutdoorsmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/mule-vs-whitetail-buck-side.jpg?ssl=1), I am pondering on the implications of these features.

Posted by paradoxornithidae over 1 year ago

@paradoxornithidae

The photo-pair you linked shows the almost unbelievable evolutionary plasticity of the caudal flag/hindquarters bleeze in Odocoileus.

Odocoileus hemionus is thought to have evolved recently from Odocoileus virginianus, and the two species remain able to interbreed. However, the pattern on the hindquarters is almost unrecognisably different, in conjunction with the tail no longer being flagged in O. hemionus hemionus.

One reason why, in cervids, the tail becomes small, is reduction of surface area in cold climates. This seems to explain the relatively small tail in O. hemionus hemionus to some extent.

However, this explanation would not apply to O. bezoarticus.

So, the diminution of the tail in O. bezoarticus (25 kg), relative to both ancestral Odocoileus and ecologically analogous Redunca, is one of the puzzling aspects of the pampas deer. It suggests convergence with Ourebia montana (15 kg) as much as Redunca redunca (35 kg).

So, a fair 'working model' for O. bezoarticus seems to be that it is the ecological counterpart for a combination of Redunca redunca (https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/oribi-ourebia-ourebi-kenya-afirca-1922206295) and Ourebia montana (https://www.natureinstock.com/search/preview/oribi-ourebia-ourebi-murchison-falls-national-park-uganda/0_00127717.html).

This would make sense, given how widespread these two spp. of bovids are in African savannas. However, the sexual dimorphism in the growth of head-adornments remains different in cervid vs bovid.

Coming back to your question re the tail: O. bezoarticus would seem to have a diminutive tail for the same reasons that Ourebia, Raphicerus, and Madoqua have diminutive tails. What could that reason be?

Posted by milewski over 1 year ago

excellent images, such subtle, but distinct, differences.

Posted by paradoxornithidae over 1 year ago

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