THE RED-DEER GROUP 929 



the lowest (a) is termed the brow-tine, the second (d) the bez-tine, and the third 

 (c) the trez-tine, or sometimes the royal tine. The summit of the beam may either 

 be divided into two or three tines (as in the figure on p. 928), or may be split up 

 into an almost indefinite number of snags, radiating outward from a kind of cup; 

 but in any case these terminal snags, irrespective of their number, are collectively 

 spoken of as the surroyals, or the crown of the antler. It will be seen from the 

 figure that in many deer the bez-tine of the antler is wanting, but of this and other 

 variations in form more will be said later on. 



Having thus noticed that the deer are more satisfactorily distin- 

 Other Charac- . , , , . ,, . ., 



. . guished by the presence of antlers in the males, we have now to 



mention certain characteristics which will aid in distinguishing from 

 other Ruminants those members of the family in which the antlers are wanting. In 

 the first place, all deer have a very large unossified space in the skull in advance of 

 the orbit, this space being so extensive as to prevent the lachrymal bone from com- 

 ing in contact with the nasal bone, as it does in the Ox family. Of less importance 

 is the circumstance that the first molar tooth in each jaw has a short crown. As a 

 rule, tusks or canine teeth are usually present in the upper jaw, and since these are 

 always developed in those forms unprovided with antlers we have a ready means of 

 distinction from the Ox family, in which there are never upper tusks. Moreover, 

 with the single exception of the musk deer, no member of the family has the gall 

 bladder s.o constantly present in the Bovidce. From both the prongbuck and the 

 giraffe the deer are distinguished by the presence of well-developed lateral hoofs in 

 both feet. It may also be mentioned that whereas in the Bovida these lateral toes 

 are represented merely by the bones of the toes themselves and the terminal hoofs, 

 a large number of deer have remnants of the lower extremities of their supporting 

 metacarpal and metatarsal bones lying alongside of the canon bone. In all deer 

 the end of the muzzle is naked, and there is a gland in front of the eye. 



Although numerically far inferior to the Bovidcs, the deer tribe in- 

 cludes a large assemblage of species, which may be grouped under 

 several generic headings, and have a wide geographical distribution. In the Old 

 World deer are found over the greater part of Europe and Asia, but are quite un- 

 known in Africa south of the Sahara the Ethiopian region of zoologists. Three 

 of the Old-World species, representing as many genera, extend into North America, 

 but the other New- World forms, which range as far south as Chili, belong to quite 

 a different type from any of those inhabiting the Eastern Hemisphere. 



Deer are for the most part inhabitants of forests or grass jungles, 



and are never found in desert districts. They are an older group than 



any of the other typical Ruminants, making their appearance in the lower portion 



of the Miocene period, where the species were of small size, and for the most part 



unprovided with antlers. 



THE RED-DEER GROUP (Cervus elaphus, etc.) 



The well-known red deer of Europe is the typical representative of the genus 

 Cervus, and belongs to a group containing several species or varieties, which is 

 59 



