CERVID^E 323 



probably indicating the ancestral form from which the Red Deer 

 and several of the allied species are descended. 



The North American Wapiti (Cervus canadensis, Fig. 129), the 

 Persian Maral (C. maral), the Kashmir Stag (C. cashmeerianus), as 

 well as C. affinis of Tibet, are all closely allied to the Red Deer, but 

 are of larger size, this being especially the case with the first two. 

 A fine example of the antlers of the Wapiti is shown in the 

 accompanying woodcut, and exhibits the absence of a cup at the 

 surroyals, by which this species is distinguished from the Red Deer. 



The last, or Damine group of existing Deer includes the Common 

 and the Persian Fallow Deer. These are readily characterised 

 by the palmation of the antlers in the region of the surroyals 

 and the spotted coat. The Common Fallow Deer (C. dama) stands 

 about three feet in height. The Persian Fallow Deer (C. 

 mesopotamicus) is very closely allied, differing only in its slightly 

 larger size and the form of the antlers, the two breeding together. 

 The common species, although now kept in English parks, does not 

 appear to be a native of this country, having probably been 

 introduced from the regions bordering the Mediterranean. The fur 

 is of a yellowish-brown colour (whence the name " fallow "), marked 

 with Avhite spots ; there is, however, a uniformly dark brown variety 

 found in Britain. The bucks and does live apar.t, except during the 

 pairing season ; and the doe produces one or two, and sometimes 

 three fawns at a birth. The Fallow Deer from the Pleistocene and 

 Pliocene deposits of the East Coast described under the names of 

 C. browni and C. falconeri appear to have been closely allied to the 

 existing species. The remarkable C. verticornis, of the Norfolk 

 Forest-bed, is regarded as an aberrant member of this group, in 

 which the antlers are very short and thick, with the brow tine 

 cylindrical and downwardly curved, and the beam expanded above 

 the tres tine into a crown with two points. 



The extinct Irish Deer (Cervus giganteus), of which the skeleton 

 is shown in the woodcut (Fig. 130), is the only representative of the 

 Megacerotine group. The antlers, which may have a span of over 

 11 feet, are enormously palmated, and have a bifurcated brow 

 tine, a small bez tine, and a third posterior tine. The skeleton 

 measures upwards of 6 feet at the withers. Remains of this 

 species are especially common in the peat-bogs of Ireland, but are 

 also met with in Pleistocene deposits over a large part of Europe. 

 In addition to the forms already mentioned there are many other 

 fossil species of Cervus, some of which, like the English Pleistocene 

 C. sedgemcki, cannot be included in any of the existing groups. 

 There is no conclusive evidence of the existence of any species of 

 Cervus before the Lower Pliocene period. 



Telemetaearpalia. This section includes all the Deer of the 

 New World, together with some Old World forms, and is charac- 



