OCR Text |
Show 108 MR. R. LYDEKKER ON AN ELK FROM SIBERIA. [Feb. 18, antlers was well developed ; but in both the pairs of antlers exhibited there was practically no palmation. These antlers were in fact very like those of young Scandinavian Elk, only with the palmation still less. They showed three tines on each side on the upper or hinder half of the main bifurcation, and either one or two tines on the lower or front branch. Mr. Lydekker had been informed that other Elk-antlers from Siberia were of a similar type. Text-hV. Hi. Skull and antlers, with the upper cheek-dentition (a), of Siberian Elk. From the type specimen in the Museum at Tring Park. That the specimens exhibited were not the result of senile decadence was quite evident, not only from the symmetrical form of the antlers themselves, but likewise from the state of wear of the cheek-teeth (text-fig. 16, a) of the skull. The similarity of the two pairs of antlers, together with the information as to this type being characteristic of all Elk-antlers from the same country, induced Mr. Lydekker to regard the Elk of Siberia as a distinct form. Whether it should be considered a species or a variety was a somewhat difficult question ; but since the antlers exhibited involved a modification in the definition of the genus, it seemed advisable to allow specific rank in this case. |