50 



Artiodactyla — The Deer -tribe. 



True Ruminants. 



True 



Ruminants. 



Cervidse, 

 Deer-tribe. 



Pier-case, 

 No. 15. 



Under this sub-division is placed the second group of 

 hoofed Artiodactyle quadrupeds, the true Ruminants, animals 

 that chew the cud, as the ox and deer- tribes. 



They are characterised by the outer toes being rudimentary 

 or absent : they have no teeth in the front part of the upper 

 jaw ; they possess a complex stomach with four compartments ; 

 the males usually possess either " horns " or " antlers." 



The group embraces many extinct genera and also extinct 

 species belonging to existing genera. 



Family — The Cervim (Deer-tribe). — The Gervidce or Deer- 

 tribe are characterised by possessing antlers which differ re- 

 markably from the horns of Oxen or Antelopes. " Antlers " are 

 outgrowths of true bone, covered during their growth with 

 vascular sensitive integ'ument coated with short hair. In this 



Fig. 60. — Antlers of drvida (Deer-tribe). A, Antler of Cervulv.s (?) dlcranoceros (Kaup), 

 Pliocene. B, Antler of Cervus pardinensis (Croizet & Jobert), Pliocene. C, Antler of 

 the Red Deer C. elaphus (Linn.), in the second year. D, Antler of Red Deer in its full- 

 grown condition. E, Antler and bony pedicle of the frontal bone of the Muntjak, 

 Cervulus muntjak (Zimm.). F, Antler of the Fallow Deer Cervus dania (Linn). 



state they remain permanently in the Giraffe, but in the true 

 Gervidce, or Deer, when the growth of the antler is complete, 

 the supply of blood to it ceases, the skin dies and peels off, 

 leaving the bone bare and insensible, and after a time, by a 

 process of absorption near the base, it becomes detached 

 from the skull and is " shed." A more or less elongated 

 portion or "pedicle" always remains on the skull, from the 

 summit of which a new antler is developed. This process is 



