THE REINDEER 



957 



in the fur of the anterior part of the animal. In the hinder part of the body the 

 white rings on the hairs are absent, and the color of the fur is consequently uni- 

 form dark brown, becoming of a still deeper shade on the feet and the crest on the 

 forehead. The ears have a transverse black bar, with white tips and edges; the 

 under parts of the body and the lower surface of the tail being likewise white. 



Michie's deer are abundant in the reeds bordering the rivers in the neighborhood 

 of Ningpo and other parts of Eastern China. 



THE REINDEER 

 Genus Ran%ifer 



The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) differs from all other members of the deer tribe 

 in that the antlers are not borne only by the male, although those of the female are 

 of smaller dimensions, and together with all the deer remaining for notice, it differs 

 from those already described in the structure of the fore-foot. In these, which, with 

 the single exception of the wapiti, are Old- World types, the lateral metacarpal bones 

 of the fore-foot, which originally supported the lateral toes, are represented only by 

 two small splints lying on either side of the upper end of the canon bone, as shown 

 in the foot of the sheep on p. 802. On the other hand, in the reindeer and the 

 under-mentioned genera, these same lateral metacarpal bones are represented only 

 by their lower extremities, and thus still support the toe bones of the lateral hoofs, 

 as shown in the figure on this page. This difference may not, perhaps appear 

 to be of much significance, but as there are other indications of affinity between the 

 members of the two groups into which the Deer family is thereby 

 divided, it is probably of considerable importance in classification. 

 The majority of the deer belonging to the present group are 

 either common to the present regions of both Hemispheres, or 

 are restricted to the New World, the roe and the Chinese water 

 deer being the only exclusively Old- World forms. 



Reverting to the consideration of the reindeer, we have first 

 to observe that in addition to the presence of antlers in both 

 sexes, the genus is distinguished from all other deer by the 

 form and position of these appendages. Thus, instead of being 

 placed low down on the forehead, the antlers take their 

 origin on the upper part of the skull, immediately over the 

 occipital ridge, and are accordingly far behind the eyes; while 

 as regards form they are distinguished by the great development 

 of the brow-tines in the males, which are more or less laterally 

 compressed, branched, and palmated, and descend to a greater 







or less degree over the face, so that their lower edge sometimes LEFT FORE . FOO T 

 almost touches the nose. Then, again, there is such an amount OF THE ROE- 



KT'CK 



of individual variation that scarcely any two reindeer can be (From Dawkins 



found in which the antlers are precisely similar, while frequently 



the two antlers of the same individual are widely different from one another. 



