new evidence may be brought forward about the numerous other species which are only known to me by obscure fragments.
II. Classification.
The antlers denned in the following pages may conveniently be grouped together under the head of (1) Capreoli, or Roe-like, (2) Axeidæ or Eastern Deer, of the type of the Axis and Rusa, and (3) Deer incertæ sedis, which I am unable to bring into close relation with any living forms. They are represented by the following species:—
Name. | Formation. | |||
1. Capreoli. | 1. Dicroceros elegans, | Lartet. | Middle Miocene. | |
=Prox furcatus, | Hensel. | Miocene. | ||
2. Cervus dicranoceros | Kaup. | Upper Miocene. | ||
=C. anoceros, | „ | |||
=C. trigonoceros, | „ | |||
3. C. australis, | De Serres | Lower Pliocene. | ||
4. C. Matheroni, | Gervais. | Upper Pliocene. | ||
=C. Bravardi, | Bravard, MS. | |||
5. C. cusanus, | Croizet and Jobert. | Pliocene. | ||
2. Axidæ... | 6. Cervus perrieri, | Croizet and Jobert. | Upper Pliocene. | |
=C. issiodorensis, | „ | |||
=C. pardinensis, | „ | |||
7. O. etueriarum, | „ | „ | ||
=C. rusoides, | Pomel. | |||
=C. perollensis, | Bravard. | |||
=C. stylodus, | „ | „ | ||
8. C. suttonensis, | Dawkins. | Pliocene. | ||
9. C. cylindroceros, | „ | Upper Pliocene. | ||
=C. gracilis, | „ | |||
2. Incertæ
sedis |
10. C. tetraceros, | Dawkins. | Upper Pliocene. |
III. The Capreoli.
A. Dicroceros elegans, Cervus dicranoceros, C. australis.
The Deer comprised under this head possess antlers similar to those of the living Muntjak (Cervulus) and Roe (Capreolus), which are short, round, and generally perched on a long pedicle. The crown is either simply forked or composed of short confluent tynes.
The first antler-bearing Deer which appears in the geological record is the Dicroceros elegans (Lartet)[1] of the Middle Miocene of Sansan and Simorre, in which the antler is composed of a simple fork springing close to the burr, and crowning the summit of a long and slender pedicle like that of the Muntjak. Similar antlers have been met with in the Canton of St. Donnat (Brome) and La Grive, St. Albans (lsère), and are preserved in the geological collection in the
- ↑ Lartet, 'Notice sur la Colline de Sansan,' p. 34; 'Comptes Rendus,' t. iv. p. 88, and t. v. p. 131.