630 TEXTBOOK OF ZOOLOGY 



cattle, camels, llamas, goats, sheep, pigs, alpacas, reindeer, deer, elks, 

 moose, giraffes, bisons, hippopotamuses and gazelles. The deer family, 

 Cervidae, peccary family, Tayassuidae, cattle family, Bovidae, and 

 the pronghorn antelope family, Antilocapridae all have native repre- 

 sentatives in North America. The family Cervidae is the largest in 

 the order. Nearly all males in the deer group have horns which are 

 solid outgrowths of the skull. These are shed each year and a new 

 but larger set grown the next season. The moose, Alces americana is 

 the largest of the group, and it may reach a weight of one thousand 

 pounds. It is found in the mountainous parts of the Northwest. It 

 has large, broadly flattened antlers. The elk, Cervus canadensis, is 

 another large representative which is found only in isolated parts 

 of our western states. In recent years there has been much effort 

 made to conserve the remaining ones, particularly in Wyoming, 

 Montana, and Utah. The antlers of the elk are long, with numerous 

 slender points. The most commonlj^ distributed deer is the white- 

 tailed or Virginia deer, Odocoileus virginianus. It thrives in semi- 

 domestication as well as in the wild. The black-tailed deer, Odo- 

 coileus crooki and the mule deer, Odocoileus hemiomis are both a 

 little larger than the white-tailed. The mule deer is common 

 through the Rocky Mountain states. The black-tailed deer does not 

 range so far north. Both have doubly branching antlers while the 

 white-tailed does not. 



The caribous, which are native, and the imported European rein- 

 deer are important meat animals of Canada and Alaska. The cari- 

 bou, Rangifer cariltou, is heavy-bodied with stout legs and heavy, 

 irregular antlers in both sexes. The pronghorn antelope, Antilocapra 

 americana (Fig. 410) which once covered the Great Plains and 

 ranged over most of the western states is now limited to a few scat- 

 tered, isolated herds. Much attention is now being given to its resto- 

 ration and fortunately so. It is nearly as large as a small white- 

 tailed deer, has peculiar short, single-branched horns in both sexes, 

 long pointed ears, and a striking white rump patch. It sheds the 

 horns each year. 



The family Bovidae, of course, includes the domestic cow which is 

 not a native of this continent. The horns of this group are hollow, 

 occur in both sexes, and are permanent. Rocky Mountain sheep, Ovis 

 canadensis, is found in the higher western mountains. The horns of 

 the male are greatly developed and curved. They are the basis for 



