50 Elk 



long and pointed, lateral hoots large. A small metatarsal gland and 

 tarsal tuft, the former situated high up. Pelage, uniformly coloured at 

 all ages and all seasons, 1 long and coarse ; males provided with a peculiar 

 pear-shaped pendulous expansion of skin covered with long hairs on the 

 throat. In the skull, the nasal bones very short, and the nasal aperture 

 consequentlv of great extent ; gland-pit and vacuity between the bones of 

 the face moderate. Upper molar teeth broad, low-crowned, and approxi- 

 mating to those of the giraffe. Size very large, and build clumsy. 



With the exception of a certain similarity in the conformation of their 



Fig. io. — Front view of Frontlet and Antlers of Elk. From an immature specimen in the 



British Museum. 



antlers to those of the American deer (with which they also agree in the 

 structure of the lateral metacarpal bones), elk seem fully as isolated a type 

 as reindeer. Although there is evidence of the existence of the genus 

 since the Pliocene epoch, there is nothing definitely known as to its 

 relationship with other members of the family. Essentially, as seen in 

 immature specimens (Fig. io), the antlers are of the forked, or dichotomous, 

 type ; the anterior prong of the fork simply dividing again, while the 

 posterior prong splits into a fork of which the front prong is simple but the 

 hinder branch expands to form the main palmation. In very old animals 



1 Young American elk arc stated to show a faint dappling. 



