First ever records of melanism in Marsh deer Blastocerus dichotomus

Color anomalies in natural mammal populations are rare. For cervids, pigmentation anomalies have been reported for different species. For marsh deer, cases of albinism and leucism have been reported, but to date there was no record of melanism in this species. Through camera trap data and direct observations, here we describe the first cases of melanistic individuals in two populations of marsh deer in two different biomes in Brazil: Pantanal and Cerrado.