ORIGIN OF WAPITI DEER 
69 
gigantic glaciers during the Ice Age, exclaims “ this is no 
vain hypothesis or speculation founded on uncertain data, 
no mere conjecture which the light of future discoveries may 
explode. The evidence is so clear and so overwhelmingly 
convincing that we cannot resist the inevitable conclusion.’'* 
The Canadian wapiti deer is a typical example of a recent 
Asiatic immigrant. In some previous cases it was doubtful 
whether the species referred to was of truly American or 
Asiatic origin. Again in others we were able to trace a 
distinctly American ancestry, but not beyond the more recent 
deposits. 
I want now to mention an interesting creature whose 
lineage we can follow through several geological ages, and 
whose most remote ancestors had, as we might say, not 
a drop of foreign blood in their veins. The species I allude 
to is the Canadian tree porcupine (Erethizon dorsatus). It 
is in many respects a most striking and remarkable animal. 
In Europe, in fact everywhere in the Old World, porcu¬ 
pines are ground animals, and they usually dig their 
burrows in the earth. The American porcupines differ from 
them in many important anatomical characters. They, more¬ 
over, all live on trees, and generally have prehensile tails. 
We have here two entirely distinct groups, as among the deer, 
though externally all porcupines have a strong family like¬ 
ness. As far as trees grow right up to the barren-grounds the 
Canadian porcupine was once abundant, but yielding whole¬ 
some food and being easily killed it has been exterminated in 
many districts. Whenever it is undisturbed it is plentiful, feed¬ 
ing on leaves and bark, and it seems entirely unaffected by 
climatic extremes. The Canadian tree porcupine lives in 
Canada from the Rocky Mountains in the west to southern 
Labrador in the east, and enters the United States in Maine 
and New Hampshire. Formerly it occurred all along the 
Alleghenies, through Pennsylvania into Virginia and Ken¬ 
tucky to Arkansas. In these southern parts of its range it 
no doubt fell an easy prey to the Indian hunters who were 
always fond of its flesh. The destruction of forests on the 
arrival of the white man hastened its northward retreat. 
* Geikie, James, “The Great Ice Age,’’ pp. 67—68. 
