360 



UNGULATA. 



the Eocene period, though some palaeontologists are inclined 

 to think that the hornless Xiphodon of this period may be an 

 early form of the Deer. It is also possible, as suggested by 

 Marsh, that the Oromeryx of the Upper Eocene of North 

 America is an ancestral type of the Cervidce. 



Fig. (350. — A, Antler of Dicroceros anoceros — Miocene Tertiary ; b, Antler of Cervus {Axis) 

 po;-rfi?!CHsis— Pliocene ; c. Antler of the Red Deer (Cernis elaphus) in the second year ; d, Antler 

 of the same in its fully-grown condition; e, Antler and bony pedicle of the frontal bone in 

 the Muntjak (Cerrus Muntjak); f, Antler of the Fallow Deer (Daina platyceros). 



In the Miocene deposits of Europe we meet with a 

 number of types of Cervidce., including the recent genus 

 Cervus. Most of the forms of this period, however, are 

 extinct, and belong to the genera Dicroeeros and Dorcatherium. 

 In the former of these (fig. 650, a) the antlers appear as 

 if produced by the bifurcation of the " beam " into two divi- 

 sions. In the Miocene, also, we find the first traces of the 

 true Musk-deer, if AmpMmoselvus be rightly referred to the 

 Moschidce. In the Pliocene period remains of Deer become 

 abundant ; and, according to Professor Boyd-Dawkins, they 

 belong to two principal types, represented respectively by 

 the Roebuck {Capreolus caprcea) of Europe and the Axis 

 Deer of Asia, and most of them resembling the latter. 

 None of the Pliocene Deer belong to species now alive. 



In the Post-Pliocene period, we meet with a number of 

 Deer, most of which belong to well-known living types. Of 



