34 



Reindeer 



the back-tine the beam is continued for some distance to terminate in a 

 large palmation. Antlers or" female simpler and generally smaller. Muzzle 

 entirely hairy ; ears and tail short ; throat maned. Pelage unspotted at all 

 ages, with a whitish area in the region of the tail, which includes its sides, 

 but not its upper surface. Main hoofs short and rounded, lateral hoofs very 

 large. A tarsal, but no metatarsal gland and tuft. In the skull the gland- 

 pit shallow, and the vacuity of moderate size ; nasal bones well developed, 

 and much expanded at the upper end. Upper canines wanting ; cheek- 



Fig. 6. — Antlers of" Male Woodland Reindeer. From a specimen in the British Museum. 

 (Row land Ward, Records of Big Game.) 



teeth small and low-crowned, with the third lobe of the last in the lower 

 jaw minute. Bodily size large. 



That reindeer are very different from other Cervidae is apparent not only 

 from the presence of antlers in both sexes, but likewise from their peculiar 

 form and backward situation on the skull. With regard to whether the 



ession of these appendages is a primitive or an acquired feature, more 

 evidence than is at present available seems necessary. Especially is this the 

 ca^e with regard to the ancestry of the group, which is totally unknown, 

 fossil reindeer remains not antedating the Plistocene, and then being indis- 

 tinguishable from those of the living European form. Mr. Gordon Cameron 

 writes as follows on the question : — " Since there is every reason to believe 



