''Pudella carlae'', the Peruvian Yungas pudu, is a species of

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

from

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. It was found in 2024 to be a distinct species from the

northern pudu The northern pudu (''Pudella mephistophiles'', Mapudungun or , , ) is a species of South American deer native to the Andes of Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador. It is the world's smallest deer and is classified as Data Deficient in the IUCN ...

, from which it is separated geographically by the Huancabamba Depression. It is the first living deer species to be described in the 21st century.

Etymology

The specific epithet ''carlae'' honors fellow biologist Carla Gazzolo, who saved co-author Javier Barrio's life after a vascular problem.

Taxonomy

''Pudu mephistophiles'' was historically divided into two subspecies, the type subspecies ''P. m. mephistophiles'' with its type locality near

Papallacta Papallacta is a village at an altitude of in Napo Province, Ecuador. Its population is 635 as of 2022. Climate See also *List of highest towns by country A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in som ...

, Ecuador, and ''P. m. wetmorei'' with its type locality in

Puracé National Natural Park The Puracé National Natural Park () is a national park located in the Andean region of Colombia, southeast of the city of Popayán in the Cordillera Central range. Its main feature is the active stratovolcano Puracé, one of Colombia's most a ...

, Colombia. Both were later found to be individual variations inside one of two distinct populations, spanning through Colombia, Ecuador, and the northernmost part of Peru. The second population was identified in central Peru, separated from the first by the Huancabamba Depression. The southern population was found to be a distinct species from ''P. mephistophiles'' in 2024. At first believed by the researchers to be a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of the latter, it was finally described as the new species ''P. carlae'', distinguished by both morphological differences and genetic variation. It has been reported to be the first extant deer species discovered in the 21st century, and the first in the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

in more than 60 years. The study describing ''P. carlae'' found that it and the northern pudu, ''P. mephistophiles'', were not directly related to the southern pudu, '' P. puda''. As the latter is the type species of the genus ''

Pudu The pudus (Mapudungun ''püdü'' or ''püdu'', , ) are two species of South American deer from the genus ''Pudu'', and are the world's smallest deer. The chevrotains (mouse-deer; Tragulidae) are smaller, but they are not true deer. The name is ...

'', the former two were placed in the resurrected genus '' Pudella'' to account for this distinction. That genus was originally erected in 1913 to account for major differences between the northern and southern pudu. Both genera ''Pudu'' and ''Pudella'' belong to the tribe Odocoileini, which includes the

Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeogra ...

deer, although they are not immediate relatives.

Description

''Pudella carlae'' is a stocky, short-legged cervid. It is tall and weighs , making it larger than ''P. mephistophiles'', the smallest known cervid species, but still smaller than ''Pudu puda''. The body fur is coarse, long, and orange-brown, distinguishing it from the darker coloration of the other two species. The head is mostly black, although not as fully as in ''P. mephistophiles'', as the body's coloration extends to the forehead. Ears are oval, contrasting with the rounded ears of ''P. mephistophiles'' and the pointed ears of ''P. puda''. The shape of the

incisors Incisors (from Latin ''incidere'', "to cut") are the front teeth present in most mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and on the mandible below. Humans have a total of eight (two on each side, top and bottom). Opossums have 18, wher ...

also differs from those of other pudus, being more spatulated than in ''P. mephistophiles''. The skull is also different, being more elongated, with larger

premaxilla The premaxilla (or praemaxilla) is one of a pair of small cranial bones at the very tip of the upper jaw of many animals, usually, but not always, bearing teeth. In humans, they are fused with the maxilla. The "premaxilla" of therian mammals h ...

and

nasal bone The nasal bones are two small oblong bones, varying in size and form in different individuals; they are placed side by side at the middle and upper part of the face and by their junction, form the bridge of the upper one third of the nose. Eac ...

s, wider

braincase In human anatomy, the neurocranium, also known as the braincase, brainpan, brain-pan, or brainbox, is the upper and back part of the skull, which forms a protective case around the brain. In the human skull, the neurocranium includes the calv ...

and zygomatic breadth.

Ecology and behavior

''Pudella carlae'' feeds on ferns, as well as on leaves and berries, mostly from bushes and small trees, although it has been reported to climb inclined tree trunks to eat their leaves.

Range and habitat

''Pudella carlae'' is found to the southeast of the Huancabamba Depression in the

Peruvian Yungas The Peruvian Yungas comprise a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in Peru. History During the Inca Empire, the term ''yunga'' referred to both the western and eastern slopes of the Andes and their inhabitants. In the Span ...

, in

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, Montane forest, montane, Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist forest characteri ...

s along the eastern side of the Peruvian

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

. It is found in such areas as the Rio Abiseo National Park, the

Yanachaga–Chemillén National Park Yanachaga–Chemillén National Park () is a protected area located in the region of Pasco Region, Pasco, Peru. It preserves part of the rainforests and cloud forests of central Peru. It is a refuge for wildlife from the Pleistocene, a time when t ...

, the Pampa Hermosa National Sanctuary, the Pui Pui Protection Forest, and the Alto Mayo Protection Forest. It lives at altitudes ranging from .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q124784735 Capreolinae Mammals of Peru Endemic fauna of Peru Mammals described in 2024