MAMMALS 363 



2.2 Antlers more or less palmate. 



bi ]\Iales only with horns; lowest prongs not extending over the 



face 3. Alces. 



1)2 Both sexes with horns; lowest prongs extending over the face. 4. Rangifer. 



1. Cervus L. Antlers present only in the male, cylindrical, the 

 first prong being just above the base and projecting over the brow; 

 dentition 0/4, i /o, ^1^, t^It,; tail very short; hoofs broad and rounded; 

 nose naked; fawns spotted: i species. 



C. canadensis Erxleben. Wapiti; elk. Color dark chestnut brown 

 on the head, neck and under parts; back and sides yellowish gray; a 

 large whitish patch on the rump; length 2,590 mm.; tail 140 mm.; 

 hind foot 650 mm.; height at shoulders 1,220 mm.; weight about 700 

 lbs.; length of antlers along outside curve 1,655 rnm.: Rocky Mountain 

 region from New Mexico and Arizona to British Columbia; formerly 

 eastward in the Canadian, Transitional and Upper Austral zones to the 

 Atlantic; related to the red deer of Europe, C. elephus L. 



Subspecies of C. canadensis , 



C. c. occidentalis Hamilton Smith. Size larger; head, legs and neck 

 black: coastal forests from British Columbia into northwestern 

 California. 



C. c. merriami Nelson. Color yellowish brown: White Mountains, 

 Arizona; nearly extinct. 



C. c. nannodes Merriam. Color pale buflfy gray; length 2030 mm.; 

 tail 140 mm.; hind foot 620 mm.; legs short: Kern County, California. 



2. Odocoileus Rafinesque. Antlers present in the male alone, the 

 first prong being directed upwards and not over the brow; dentition 

 0/4, 0/0, 2)l2>y S/S'y tail rather long, thickly haired beneath; hoofs 

 narrow; young spotted: about 20 species, 7 in the United States and 

 Canada. 



Key to the United States Species of Odocoileus 



El East of the Great Plains. 



bi Eastern States, north of the Gulf States 0. americanus. 



hi Gulf States 0. osceola. 



Eo Great Plains to the Pacific. 



bi In the Rio Grande region 0. texanus. 



hi In New Mexico and Arizona O. crooki. 



0. couesi. 



bs Texas to Dakota and westwards 0. hemionus. 



hi On the Pacific slope 0. columbianus. 



