Page:EB1911 - Volume 07.djvu/947

Rh the upper, and in others both prongs again dividing; tail long; tarsal gland generally present; metatarsal gland very variable, both as regards presence and position; vomer dividing the inner aperture of the nostrils in the skull into two distinct chambers. America.

1. White-tailed Group, Subgenus Dorcelaphus or Odocoileus.—Antlers large and complex, with a sub-basal snag, and the lower prong more or less developed at the expense of the upper one; metatarsal gland usually present; tail long or moderate, and hairy below; face very long and narrow; the face-gland small, and the gland-pit in the skull of moderate extent; no upper canines; size generally large. North America to Northern South America.

2. Marsh-deer Group, Subgenus Blastoceros.—Antlers large and complex, without a sub-basal snag, and the upper prong more developed than the lower one; metatarsal gland absent; tail short; face moderately long; face-gland and gland-pit well developed; upper canines usually present in male. Size large or rather small. South America.

3. Guemals, Subgenus Xenelaphus.—Antlers small and simple, forming a single dichotomous fork; metatarsal gland absent; tail short; face moderately long; face-gland and gland-pit well developed; upper canines present in both sexes. Size medium. South America.

4. Brockets, Subgenus Mazama.—Antlers in the form of simple unbranched spikes; metatarsal, and in one case also the tarsal gland absent; tail very short; face elongated; face-gland small and gland-pit deep and triangular; hair of face radiating from two whorls: upper canines sometimes present in old males. Size small. Central and South America.

X. Genus Pudua.—Skull and metacarpals generally as in Mazama; size very small; hair coarse and brittle; antlers in the form of short, simple spikes; cannon-bones very short; tail very short or wanting; no whorls in the hair of the face; face-gland moderately large, and gland-pit deep and oval; tarsal and metatarsal glands wanting; ectocuneiform bone of tarsus united with the naviculocuboid. South America.

B. Subfamily .—Antlers wanting in both sexes; liver furnished with a gall-bladder; no face-gland or gland-pit.

XI. Musk-deer, Genus Moschus.—Hair coarse and brittle; upper canines of male very long; no tarsal or metatarsal glands or tufts; lateral metacarpals represented by their lower extremities; lateral hoofs very large; tail very short; naked portion of muzzle extensive; male with a large abdominal gland. Central Asia.

Of the above, and  are dealt with in separate articles (qq.v.).

The first or typical group of the genus Cervus includes the red-deer (Cervus elaphus) of Europe and western Asia, of which there are several local races, such as the large C. elaphus maral of eastern Europe and Persia, which is often partially spotted above and dark-coloured below, the smaller C. e. barbarus of Tunisia and Morocco, and the still smaller C. e. corsicanus of Corsica. The Scandinavian red-deer is the typical form of the species. In all red-deer the antlers are rounded, and show a more or less marked tendency to form a cup at the summit. Wapiti, on the other hand, show a marked tendency to the flattening of the antlers, with a great development of the fourth tine, which is larger than all the others, and the whole of the tines above this in the same plane, or nearly so, this plane being the same as the long axis of the animal. Normally no cup is developed at the summit of the antler. The tail, too, is shorter than in the red-deer; while in winter the under parts become very dark, and the upper surface often bleaches almost white. The cry of the stags in the breeding season is also different. The typical representative of the group is the North American wapiti C. canadensis, but there are several closely allied races in Central Asia, such as C. canadensis songaricus and C. c. bactrianus, while in Manchuria the subgroup is represented by C. c. xanthopygus, in which the summer coat is reddish instead of grey. The hangul (C. cashmirianus) of Kashmir is a distinct dark-coloured species, in which the antlers tend to turn in at the summit; while C. yarcandensis, of the Tarim Valley, Turkestan, is a redder animal, with a wholly rufous tail, and antlers usually terminating in a simple fork placed in a transverse plane. Another Asiatic species is the great shou (C. affinis) of the Chumbi Valley, in which the antlers curve forwards in a remarkable manner. Lastly C. albirostris, of Tibet, is easily recognized by its white muzzle, and smooth, whitish, flattened antlers, which have fewer tines than those of the other members of the group, all placed in one plane.

The second group of the genus Cervus, forming the subgenus Pseudaxis, is typified by the handsome little Japanese deer, or sika, C. (P.) sika, in which the antlers are four-tined, and covered with red “velvet” when first grown, while the coat is fully spotted in summer, but more or less uniformly brown in winter. The most distinctive feature of the deer of this group is, however, the patch of long erectile white hairs on the buttocks, which, although inconspicuous when the animals are quiescent, is expanded into a large chrysanthemum-like bunch when they start to run or are otherwise excited. The patch then forms a guiding signal for the members of the herd when in flight. On the mainland of Manchuria both the typical sika, and a larger race (C. sika manchuricus), occur. A still larger and finer animal is the Pekin sika (C. hortulorum), of northern Manchuria, which is as large as a small red-deer; it is represented in the Yang-tse valley by a local race, C. h. kopschi. Formosa possesses a species of its own (C. taëvanus), which, in correlation with the perpetual verdure of that island, is spotted at all seasons.

For the fallow-deer, Cervus [Dama] dama, see.

The rusine or sambar group of Cervus, of which the characteristics are given above, comprises a considerable number of long-tailed species with three-tined antlers from the Indo-Malay countries and some parts of China. The largest and handsomest is the sambar of India (Cervus [Rusa] unicolor), characterized by its massive and rugged antlers. It is represented by a number of local races, mostly of smaller size, such as the Burmese and Malay C. u. equinus, the Formosan C. u. swinhoei, and the Philippine C. u. philippinus and C. u. nigricans, of which the latter is not larger than a roe-buck, while the sambar itself is as large as a red-deer. Whether these local phases of a single variable type are best denominated races or species, must be largely a matter of individual opinion. The rusa, or Javan sambar, C. (R.) hippelaphus, is a lighter-coloured and smaller deer than the Indian sambar, with longer, slenderer and less rugged antlers. Typically from Java, this deer is also represented in the Moluccas and Timor, and has thus the most easterly range of the whole tribe. A black coat with white spots distinguishes the Philippine spotted deer, C. alfredi, which is about the size of a roe-buck; while other members of this group are the Calamianes deer of the Philippines (C. culionensis), the Bavian deer (C. kuhli) from a small island near Java, and the well-known Indian hog-deer or para (C. porcinus), all these three last being small, more or less uniformly coloured, and closely allied species. On the other hand, the larger and handsomer chital, or spotted deer (C. axis), stands apart by its white-spotted fawn-red coat and differently formed antlers.

Nearly allied to the preceding is the barasingha or rucervine group (subgenus Rucervus), in which the antlers are of a different and generally more complex character. The typical species is the Indian barasingha or swamp-deer, Cervus (Rucervus) duvauceli, a uniformly red animal, widely distributed in the forest districts of India. In Siam it is replaced by C. (R.) schomburgki, in which the antlers are of a still more complex type. Finally, we have the thamin, or Eld’s deer, C. (R.) eldi, ranging from Burma to Siam, and characterized by the continuous curve formed by the beam and the brow-tine of the antlers.

For the small eastern deer, respectively known as muntjacs (Cervulus) and tufted muntjacs or tufted deer (Elaphodus), see the Chinese representative of the genus Hydrelaphus (or Hydropotes). The roe-deer, or roe-buck (Capreolus), likewise form the subject of a separate article (see ), as is also the case with Père David’s deer, the sole representative of the genus Elaphurus.
 * while under will be found a notice of

The American deer include such New World species as are generically distinct from Old World types. All these differ from the members of the genus Cervus in having no brow-tine to the antlers, which, in common with those of the roe-deer, belong to what is called the forked type. Including all these deer except one in the genus Mazama (of which the typical representatives are the South American brockets), the North American species constitute the subgenus Dorcelaphus (also known as Cariacus and Odocoileus). One of the best known of these is the white-tailed deer Mazama (Dorcelaphus) americana, often known as the Virginian deer. It is typically an animal of the size of a fallow-deer,