RUMINANTIA CERVINAE CERVUS. 637 



CERVUS, Linn. 



Nose tapering, ending in a naked moist muffle; tail usually well developed. Rather long false hoofs. Fawns, and some 

 times the adults, spotted. Fur shorter and fulvous in summer, longer and grayer in winter. Skulls with a mode ate nose 

 cavity, and the intermaxillaries reaching to, or nearly to, the nasal bones. 1 



The preceding diagnosis, taken from J. E. Gray, embraces the peculiarities of what he calls 

 the deer of the temperate or warm regions, as distinguished from the arctic deer, as Alee and 

 Eangifer, in which the nose is very broad at the end, and entirely covered with hair ; the tail 

 short, the horns palmated ; the fawns not spotted, but uniformly colored like the adults ; the 

 skull with a large nose cavity, and the intermaxillaries not reaching the nasal. 



The deer of the temperate regions again are divided by Dr. Gray as follows : 



1. The Elaphine deer, with a distinct anterior basal snag to the horns ; the muffle broad, 

 and separated from the lip by a hairy band ; the tuft of hair on the outside of the hind leg, 

 above the middle of the metatarsus. Sub-genera Cervus, Dama. 



2. Eusine deer, with a distinct anterior basal snag to the horns ; the muffle very high, and not 

 separated from the edge of the lip ; the tuft of hair on the outside of the hind leg, above the 

 middle of the metatarsus. Sub-genera Rucervus, Panolia, Rusa, Axis, Hyelaphus, Cervulus. 



3. Capreoline deer, without any basal snag to the horn, the first branch being some distance 

 above the burr ; the sub-orbital crumen (and pit in the skull) generally small. Sub-genera 

 Capreolus, Cariacus, Blastocerus, Furcifer, Coassus. 



All the North American deer belong to the sub-genus Cariacus of the third group, with the 

 exception of the elk, which is a typical Cervus in the first section. 



As already remarked, I shall not attempt to divide the North American deer with naked 

 muffles, but throw them all in the same genus Cervus. There are, however, three very dis 

 tinct sections, which may be indicated as follows : 



Section A. Size very large. Horns large, curving backwards, with the snags all directed 

 forward, one of them immediately above the burr. Tail very short, the base surrounded by 

 a pale patch. Naked muzzle, separated from the naked edge of the upper lip by hair, but 

 connected with it by a narrow naked isthmus ; no naked glandular space on the metatarsus. 

 Hoofs broad and rounded. Cervus canadensis. 



Section B. Muzzle broadly naked entirely to the edge of the upper lip. Tail long. A 

 narrow short naked glandular space on the outer side of the metatarsus. Hoofs rather elongate. 

 Horns smaller, curving forwards, with the first snag short, some distance from the base, directed 

 upwards. All the other branches proceeding from the posterior edge of the main stem, and 

 directed upwards. Cervus virginianus, leucurus, mexicanus. 



Section C. Muzzle, hoofs, and tail in general, as in the preceding. Naked glandular space 

 on the outside of the metatarsus longer. Horns with the lowest snag as in the preceding 

 section, but smaller, sometimes wanting ; main stem forking almost equally about the middle, 

 each fork dividing again nearly equally at about its middle ; in other words, the horns are 

 doubly dichotomous. Cervus mawotis, columbianus. 







1 Gray, 1. Soc. Lond. 1850, 226. 



