| Hippocamelus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Thetaruca | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Cervidae |
| Subfamily: | Capreolinae |
| Tribe: | Odocoileini |
| Genus: | Hippocamelus Leuckart 1816 |
| Type species | |
| Hippocamelus dubius Leuckart, 1816 | |
| Species | |
Hippocamelus is agenus ofCervidae, the deer family. It comprises two extantAndean and two fossil species. The living members are commonly known as thehuemul (from theMapuche language), and thetaruca, also known as the northern huemul.
Both species have a stocky, thick, and short-legged body. They live at highaltitudes in the summer. Though Taruca spend their whole life cycle at these high altitudes, especially as populations close to the equator, southern Huemul move down the mountains in the fall and spend the winter in sheltered forested valleys.
Areas with fresh water are preferred. They areherbivores that feed primarily onherbaceous plants and shrubs as well assedges,lichens, andgrasses found between the rocks on high peaks. They are active during the day and have a lifespan of about ten years.[citation needed]
Thehuemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus), also known as the South Andean deer, is found inChile andArgentina. Huemuls live in groups of varying size, typically of two or three individuals, but sometimes as many as eleven. In the past, groups of over a hundred deer were reported.[citation needed] Groups are made up of a female and her young, while males are often alone.
Huemul occur in severalnational parks in Chile and neighbouring parts of Argentina and have been on the Endangered list since 1996. They are endangered primarily due to human impacts such as deforestation,habitat fragmentation by roads, introduction of non-native mammals such as farm animals, and poaching. They are in a classic "extinction spiral" marked by increasingly small, isolated populations.[citation needed]
The huemul is, along with thecondor, thenational animal of Chile.
Thetaruca (Hippocamelus antisensis), also called Northern Huemul, is mainly found inPeru. Scattered potpulations are also found in high mountain regions ofBolivia, and in a less extent in northern Chile and Argentina, inhabiting treeless Puna grasslands. They live at high altitudes ranging from 3,500 to 5,200 meters above sea level.
Social habits include grazing in flexible groups of up to thirty animals consisting of one or two males and several females.[1]
In 2008, a genetic study indicated that the huemul and taruca may not be closely related, and that the taruca should therefore be placed in a separate genus.[2] This has been contradicted by more recent studies.[3]
Fossils belonging to the now extinct speciesHippocamelus sulcatus have been identified fromBrazil,Uruguay, andArgentina. This species inhabited lowland plains habitats, rather than mountains, and lived between 1.5 and 0.5 million years ago, during the mid to latePleistocene. Its exact relationship to the living species is unclear. A second fossil species,Hippocamelus percultus, is known from the Bolivian Andes, and lived around 40,000 to 20,000 years ago; it may be a direct ancestor of the living taruca.[4]
Both species arethreatened according to theIUCN. The Southern Hueamul isendangered and the taruca is listed asvulnerable.
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| Other | |
