The deer of all lands; a history of the family Cervidæ living and extinct

Abstract

In view of these changes, special prominence has been given in this volume to the popular titles of the various species, which are less subject to such emendations, and these alone have been employed in the legends to the plates and text-figures.A new feature in the treatment of the group is the large number of forms ranked as sub-species, or races, instead of as full species. The principle of this is that when certain representatives of a genus, or a group of a genus, are more nearly allied to one another than they are to the other members of the same, they are regarded as sub-species.The Asiatic and American wapitis, for instance, are obviously more closely related to one another than they are to the red deer, while the Caspian maral and the North African deer come nearer to the latter than to any other members of the same group. Consequently all the forms of wapiti are classed as geographical races of a single variable and widely spread specific type ; while the European, the Caspian, and the North African red deer are ranked as sub-species of a second.In like manner the numerous modifications of the sambar type show mutual resemblances not shared either by the chital or the para, and all the former are accordingly brigaded under one specific title. Althoughin some cases such geographical races, or sub-species, may pass imperceptibly into one another, the absence of intergradation is not considered any bar to classing any particular form as a sub-species. Where such sub-species are separated by the ocean, such intergradation must obviously have ceased after the disruption of the land connection between their respective habitats.Generic terms are likewise, for the most part, used in a wide sense, although they are frequently split up into minor groups, or sub-genera, which many writers would probably prefer to rank as genera. If, however, genera are used in a more restricted sense we are very apt to lose sight of many broad generalisations. For instance, if Cervus be split up, we lose sight of the fact that all the large brow-antlered deer are essentially an Old World type, with western representatives in the American wapitis.

Systematical and biochronological review of Plio-Pleistocene Alceini (Cervidae; Mammalia) from Eurasia

“…Boeskorov (2002) maintains that a further distinction between Cervalces and Alces lies in the morphology of the frontals that, in the extinct genus, should have a ''considerably smaller eminence between antlers''. This is in agreement with the suggestion by Scott (1885) that a bulge between pedicles is typical of living moose while it is missing in the skull of the North American Cervalces scotti (Lydekker, 1898), the type-species of the genus Cervalces. Actually, there is a wide range of variability in the development of the bulge both in Alces and Cervalces (Breda, 2001a), thus this character cannot bear any diagnostic value.…”

“…In the genus Cervalces Scott (1885), described on the North American type species C. scotti (Lydekker, 1898) from the Late Pleistocene, we consider the Eurasian forms Cervalces gallicus (Azzaroli, 1952), Cervalces carnutorum (Laugel, 1862) and C. latifrons as valid. Whereas all authors recognise the Late Pliocene species C. gallicus and its predominantly Middle Pleistocene descendant C. latifrons, the validity of the species C. carnutorum, of intermediate geological age, is still unclear (Pfeiffer, 1999a;Breda 2001a).…”

Presencia de Antifer ultra Ameghino (=Antifer niemeyeri Casamiquela)(Artiodactyla, Cervidae) en el Pleistoceno tardio-Holoceno temprano deChile central (30-35ºS)

“…La validez del género Antifer fue durante mucho tiempo cuestionada por diversos autores, quienes discutieron sus afinidades con otros géneros fósiles y actuales (Lydekker, 1893(Lydekker, , 1898(Lydekker, , 1915Churcher, 1966 entre otros). En 1932, Kraglievich argumentó convincentemente a favor de la efectiva existencia del género como una entidad independiente, estableciendo las dos especies actualmente aceptadas: A. ultra y A. ensenadensis.…”

“…Esto llevó en el pasado a reconocer (en un contexto taxonómico fundamentalmente tipológico/morfológico) un gran número de géneros y especies que sobredimensionaron la verdadera diversidad de los representantes fósiles del grupo, por lo que muchas de las especies antiguamente definidas requieren de nuevas revisiones comparativas. Uno de los géneros más discutidos es Antifer Ameghino, 1889, cuya validez ha sido cuestionada por diversos autores (Lydekker, 1893(Lydekker, , 1898(Lydekker, , 1915Churcher, 1966, entre otros). Actualmente se reconocen en Antifer dos especies nominales con una distribución estratigráfica bien documentada en Argentina: Antifer ultra Ameghino, 1889, registrada durante el Bonaerense-Lujanense (Pleistoceno medio-Holoceno temprano; ca.…”

Probable Cervical Vertebra of an extinct Ice Age Elkmoose Dredged from the Inner Continental Shelf of Central New Jersey

“…He therefore placed all moose-like forms in a single genus, Alces. In this paper, we follow Kahlke (1990) and refer to Cervalces as Alces, and thus use Alces scotti (Lydekker, 1898) as the preferred name for the specimen described herein.…”