28 



PLEISTOCENE MAMMALIA. 



§ 4. The Skull. — The fragments of skulls which have passed through my hands, 

 proved by the antlers which are attached to them to belong to this singular cervine form, 

 consist of twelve frontlets and various portions of the occipital and frontal regions. The 

 singular forward and downward sweep of the brow-tine over and at the outside of the 

 orbits is very well seen in the figured specimens belonging to Mr. Backhouse (PL VII, 

 figs. 1 and 2). The pedicles are set on the frontals at an angle varying from 30° to 40°, 

 taking the frontal plane between them as a base, and the antler is less erect and extends 

 further away from the median line than in most of the deer. This character is very well 

 shown in a specimen belonging to Mr. Savin from West Runton. The frontals between 

 the pedicles are slightly depressed, and do not bear a bold ridge on the inter-frontal 

 suture, as in Cervus megaceros. They are depressed and slightly hollowed in front of 

 the pedicle, and the surorbital groove is not so strongly marked as in the above-men- 

 tioned animal. 



The measurements in the following table show that there was little difference in 

 point of size between Cervus verticornis and the great Irish deer, Cervus megaceros. 



Table II. 

 Measurements of Skulls of C. verticornis. 





Pl.VI,fig.2, 

 Backhouse 



Coll., 

 Pakefield, 

 Lowestoft. 



Pl.VI.fig.l, 

 Backhouse 



Coll., 

 Pakefield, 

 Lowestoft. 



Backhouse 



Coll., 

 Pakefield, 

 Lowestoft. 



49,429, 

 British 

 Museum. 



49,430, 

 British 

 Museum. 



West 



Runton, 



Savin Coll. 



Cervus megaceros, 



Ballybeta Bog, 



Dublin. 



Occipital crest to fronto- 



3-0 

 3-25 



25 

 45 



4-2 

 3-2 



25 

 4-0 



2-5 



40 



14 

 1-0 



4-2 



40 



4-8 



30 



1-6 

 1-25 



40 



40 

 47 



2-5 



50 

 4-0 



3 : 



5-0 

 40 



40 



1-8 

 15 



35 



4-5 



4-0 



4-9 



1-6 



1-2 



Occipital crest to pedicle 

 Width of frontals be- 



Width of frontals be- 

 tween surorbital fora- 





4-6 4-0 



Top of foramen magnum 

 to occipital crest 



Foramen magnum : 



Height 



Width 





1-8 

 1-5 



Basi-occipital to end of 





§ 5. The Range of Cervus verticornis in Space and Time. — It remains now to inquire 

 into the range in space and in time of this singular extinct deer. Its remains occur in 

 considerable numbers in the Forest-bed series at Kessingland and Pakefield in Suffolk, 

 and range through the various subdivisions of the same beds at Mundesley, Trimingham, 

 Overstrand, Sidestrand, Cromer, and West Runton in the district of Cromer in Norfolk. 



