Distribution 37 



Distribution. — The northern portion of the Holarctic region, but 

 descending much farther south (as far as France) in the Plistocene epoch 

 than at the present day. Whether reindeer are ancient or modern inhabitants 

 of the Arctic regions is a moot point. And whereas some writers consider 

 that they are comparatively recent immigrants, Dr. Scharff 1 is of opinion 

 that their original home is in the north, whence they wandered southwards. 

 In the absence of decisive evidence in support of one or the other view, it 

 may be pointed out that if these deer are considered to have originated in 

 the north, it presupposes the existence of some earlier unknown member of 

 the family in those regions, and of this we have no present cognisance. 



The Reindeer, or Caribou — Rangifer tarandus 



Cervus tarandus, Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 12, vol. i. p. 93 (1766) ; Caton, 

 Antelope and Deer of America, p. 86 (1877) ; Nehring, Tundren und Steppen, 

 p. 108 (1890). 



Cervus guettardi, Desmarest, Mammalogie, vol. ii. p. 447 (1822). 



Cervus (Rangifer) tarandus, H. Smith, in Griffith's Animal Kingdom, vol. 

 iv. p. 83, v. p. 304 (1827). 



Cervus tarandus schottini, Sternberg, Isis, 1828, p. 482. 



Tarandus rangifer, Ogilby, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1836, p. 134; Gray, Cat. 

 Ungulata Brit. Mus. p. 189 (1852), Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mus. p. 66 (1872) ; 

 Fitzinger, SB. Ak. Wien, vol. lxix. part i. p. 534 (1874). 



Rangifer tarandus, Gray, hist Mamm. Brit. Mus. p. 1 8 1 (1843) '■> Brooke, 

 Proc. Zool. Soc. 1878, p. 928 ; Ward, Records of Big Game, p. 47 (1896) ; 

 Scharff, Proc. Irish Acad. ser. 3, vol. iv. p. 473 (1897). 



Characters. — In spite of the existence of more or less well-marked 

 geographical races, reindeer from all parts of the northern hemisphere 

 present such a marked similarity in general appearance that it seems pre- 

 ferable to regard them as all belonging to a single wide-spread species, of 

 which most of the characters will be the same as those of the genus. The 

 pelage is remarkable for its density and compactness ; the general colour of 

 the head and upper-parts being clove-brown, with more or less white or 

 whitish gray on the under-parts and inner surfaces of the limbs, while 

 there is also more or less white above the hoofs and on the muzzle, and 



1 Proc. Iris/? Acad. ser. 3, vol. iv. p. 473 (1897). 



