404 MAMMALIA 



caribou and the barren ground caribou. The domesticated reindeer 

 in this country were imported from Siberia and Lapland to Alaska. 

 In the reindeer, horns are present in both sexes. Caribou and 

 reindeer are readily interbred. The American moose {Alces ameri- 

 canus) is the largest animal of the deer family, not excluding the 

 celebrated " Irish elk." It stands over six feet high at the shoulder, 

 its legs are four feet long and its heavy antlers spread over six feet 

 in width. The male has a long strip of skin, the " bell," hanging 

 down from its neck. The female lacks bell and antlers. The musk 

 deer lacks horns and has musk glands highly developed in the male, 

 which furnish the basis of many perfumes. 



The giraffes {Giraffidae) of Africa, although somewhat like the 

 deer, have no antlers but short horns covered with hairy skin. The 

 giraffe, in spite of its tremendously long neck, has only seven cervical 

 vertebrae. It reaches a height of twenty feet from its front hoofs 

 to the top of its head. Its eyes are large and its face mild appearing, 

 although it is adept at kicking in all directions. 



The long neck of the giraffe has, according to the Lamarckian 

 theory, developed as a result of the efforts of the animals to reach 

 the elevated branches of tall trees. (See p. 514-) 



It is believed that the parent stock, the three-horned giraffe 

 {Giraffe camelopardalis) ^ has given off the other species such as the 

 two-horned giraffe of Southern Africa and the six-horned giraffe of 

 Western Uganda. Giraffes are silent, even the female making no 

 noise whatsoever. 



The North American prong-horn {Antilocapra atnericana) has 

 horns which in the male are branched like those in the deer. The 

 horns of the female are unbranched. W. L. Finley reports that the 

 pursued prong-horn antelope runs at a speed of about forty-five 

 miles an hour. 



The cattle family (Bovidae) include the wi/d catt/e, sheep, goats, 

 the bison, and the antelopes. There are many breeds of domestic 

 sheep which are used for flesh and for wool. Persian and Astrakan 

 lambskins are valued in fur trade.^'' The/at-tail sheep of Asia have 

 a tail that weighs as much as fifty pounds. The Spanish Merino 

 sheep introduced into Australia, Africa and United States is valued 

 for its fine long wool. There are six North American species of wild 



^^ Tight curled fur from a lamb 3 days old is called " broadtail." The same lamb 

 at 6 to 10 days of age would give "Persian Lamb Fur." At three weeks the fur would 

 be sold as Karakul. 



