They are medium to small in size, and are found in the Yucatán Peninsula, Central and South America, and the island of Trinidad.

[1] The common English name "brocket" (from French brocart < broche, spindle) comes from the word for a stag in its second year, with unbranched antlers.

[7] What may be an undescribed small species of brocket with a reddish coat and blackish legs has been photographed in the lowlands of Manú National Park in Peru, and based on sight records may also occur in northwestern Bolivia.

[9] According to the systematic relationships and evolutionary history of neotropical deer, at least eight ancestral forms of deer invaded South America during the late Pliocene (2.5–3 Mya), and members of the red brockets had an independent early explosive diversification soon after their ancestor arrived there, giving rise to a number of morphologically cryptic species.

[10] Genetic analysis reveals high levels of molecular and cytogenetic divergence between groups of morphologically similar species of brockets (Mazama) and suggests a polyphyletic origin.

They are found living alone or in mated pairs within their own small territory, the boundaries usually marked with urine, feces, or secretions from the eye glands.

When threatened by predators (primarily the cougar and the jaguar), they use their knowledge of their territory to finding hiding places in nearby vegetation.