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THE OLD-WORLD ELK 



to hostile conditions, withdrew from south- 

 western Europe into regions farther north and 

 east, which still continue in his possession. 



The elk was a contemporary of the mammoth 

 in the eastern hemisphere, as the moose was in 

 the western. Both branches of the great alcine 

 family retain the same uncouth physical char- 

 acteristics, suggestive of prehistoric times and 

 types, in a remarkably close degree. Fossil remains 

 of elk have been found in many parts of Europe. 

 They show that the type, both in respect to body 

 and antlers, has remained practically constant 

 through thousands of years, and down to the 

 present day. This indicates that the race in all 

 ages has been able by migration to seek the climate 

 and the food which its nature demanded. Thus 

 while climate and the character of vegetation have 

 changed, the elk and the moose themselves have 

 survived practically without change. 



Most of the animals which the elk encountered 

 in their wanderings during the earlier ages which 

 followed their advent in Europe, unable to adapt 

 themselves to new conditions by migration, have 

 become extinct, or have survived in a multiplicity 

 of different species greatly changed from the parent 

 stock. The elk and the moose, however, have 

 changed but little since together they cropped 



