1902.] OF iirmxs axd axtleks, 217 



origirialjy, as still shown by the mode of growth of the youngest 

 stage, no hard- and- fast line can be drawn between antler and 

 pedicle, and even now in recent species part of the bona fide 

 pedicle itself (^. e., that part which is not infiltrated with cai-tilage) 

 is annually destroyed and regenerated, although not " shed." 



It is safe to presume that the earliest Cervincs had long pedicles 

 and short antlers, or lather piickets and bi'oaches. The further 

 development into long and blanched antlers is an instance of the 

 morphologically and pathologically well-known fact that organs 

 which are originally due to hypertrophic causes are liable to 

 grow to excess. There is no maximum limit to the size of antlers 

 and to the number of tines in the Stag, although old individuals 

 are liable to "decline." 



The earliest typically Cervine creatures are referred to the 

 genus Palcpovieryx. The somewhat mixed synonymy of genera 

 and species has to a great extent been unravelled hj Roerig, who 

 has described and figured every known specimen. Finality is, 

 however, impossible until we know for certain whether the 

 separately fouiad pedicles and antlers, or both together, are suc- 

 cessive stages of one species, or represent the armaments of sevei'al 

 adult species, or geneia, which did not pass beyond the respective 

 stages of broachers, forkers, &c. 



Two frontal pedicles and two pedicles with simple, low, spiked 

 antler-fi'agments are known fiom the Lower Miocene of Hessler. 

 They show already a slight burr, proof that the tips were shed. 

 Roerig, assuming that these fragments and the following speci- 

 mens form the successive stages or " heads " of one and the same 

 species, refers them to Dicrocerusfurcatus. 



The second stage, or "head," is repiesented by typical broaches, 

 with a distinct little burr, from the Dinotherium'S&wAs. They 

 are referred by Roerig to D. farcatus, second stage or head, 

 equivalent to D. ele.gans of Lartet = D. dicranocerus of Kaup. 



The third 'stage, or head, with a thick, somewhat compressed 

 antler ending in a short fork, is D. furcatus from Steinheim, Mid- 

 Miocene. Another specimen, from the same locality, has a deeper 

 fork and a thicker burr — D. furcatus, fourth head. The burr, 

 not sharply marked off, but rather a thick swelling, bears a striking 

 resemblance to a specimen of an immature Antilocajyra in the 

 Cambridge Museum. The bony fork of course excludes any 

 further resemblance and affinity. 



The last stage, with a gracefully forked long antler, with 

 typical burr upon the still long pedicle, is represented by D. 

 ehgans from Sansan, Mid-Miocene ; it is possibly the final head 

 of D. furcatus : synonymous with Frocervulus Gaudry, Micro- 

 meryx Lartet ? The Neotropical Suhulo s. Coassus e. g. C. rufus 

 still remains in the broacher stage ; and Cervidus, the Muntjac, is 

 an incipient forker. Hydropotes inermis alone, of China, has no 

 outgrowth whatever. 



The possession of deciduous, large, many-branched antlers 

 amounts to an enormous waste of energy and material dui-ing the 



Proc. Zool. 8oc.— 1902, Yol. I. No. XY. 15 



