42 



GUIDE TO THE FOSSIL MAMMALS AND BIRDS. 



Pier-case Tier-cases 12, 13). A large extinct species, Alces latifrons, 

 flourished here at the beginning of the Pleistocene period, its 

 remains occurring with those of several extinct kinds of deer 

 in the Xorfolk Forest Bed. The Savin Collection of antlers 

 of deer and elk from this deposit, near Cromer, is exhibited 

 in I'ier-case 15. 



Antlers of deer related to Cervns occur first in the Upper 

 I'liocene of Europe, and among them may he noted those of 

 the so-called Cervus tetraceros from France (Fig. 32). A series 

 of antlers of this animal, representing individuals of different 

 ages, is mounted in the upper part of Pier-case 15. It will 

 be noticed that the number of tynes on the antlers increases 

 with age, as in the common stag (Fig. 33, c, d) and in all 



Fig. 33. — Antlers of various Deer, much reduced in size. A. Cervulus 

 dicranoceros ; Lower Pliocene. B. Cermis jmrdinensis ; Upper Plio- 

 cene. C, D. Cervus claphus, second year and adult ; Pleistocene and 

 Recent. E. Bony pedicle and antler of existing Muntjak, Cervulus 

 muntjac. P. Existing Fallow Deer, Cervus dama. 



other deer with elaborate antlers ; but the complexity and 

 size of the Upper Pliocene antlers never equal those of some 

 of the Pleistocene antlers. The Lower Pliocene and Upper 

 and :Middle Miocene deer-antlers are still smaller and simpler. 

 Table-case as shown by examples in Table-case 9 (Fig. 33, a). The 

 Lower Miocene and Oligocene deer, as represented by Amphi- 

 trcifjulus from France and Germany, are small and destitute 

 of antlers, like the living musk-deer {Moschus) of Asia. The 

 (geological history of the antlers in the race of deer thus 



9. 



