Osmetrichia in the grey brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira)

Osmetrichia have been defined as hairs specialized in the storage of secretions used in olfactory communication between conspecifics (Muller-Schwarze, et al. 1977). These authors found highly specialized osmetrichia in the tarsal gland tufts of black-tailed but not white-tailed deer. Chemical communication appears to be well developed in grey brocket deer: the bucks scent mark by rubbing their foreheads on hushes, and all deer urinate and defecate almost exclusively on dung heaps. Brocket deer also possess tarsal tufts. The purpose of this study was to examine hairs from several glandular areas in this species. Osmetrichia, similar to those found in black tailed deer, were found in tarsal tufts and in interdigital gland hairs; these hairs possessed open scales with deep pockets suitable for holding secretions, in comparison to the flat scales seen on control hairs. Hairs with different morphological characteristics (slightly open scales) were found over the frontal gland. Specialized hairs were not found in the tarsal tufts of one specimen of a related species, the red brocket deer (Mazama americana). The similarities in the hairs of grey brocket and black-tailed deer are remarkable in light of the ecological and behavioral differences between these two species.