Studíen über Hirsche (Gattung Cervus im weitesten Sinne)

Abstract

WHETHER the work of which this first instalment is before us is intended to be a monograph of the Cervidae, or whether it is to be restricted to morphological considerations, future parts will decide. The present section deals solely with the morphology of antlers and their relations to the horns of other ruminants. In discussing antlers, most English zoologists of recognised position have confined their attention to normal examples. Not so Dr. Nitsche, who is apparently of opinion that the clue to the homology of the diverse structure of these appendages in different species is to be found in abnormalities, especially such as display a double or triple beam. Such abnormalities are classed under four types, in three of which the additional antler is more or less like the original form, while in the fourth the additional and normal portion together resemble an ordinary antler. Whether the result of these studies will have any important bearing on the classification of the Cervidae, cannot well be considered till the appearance of the later parts.

Studíen über Hirsche (Gattung Cervus im weitesten Sinne).

Heft I. Untersuchungen über mehrstangige Geweihe und die Morphologie der Hufthierhörner im Allgemeinen. By Dr. H. Nitsche. Pp. xi + 102. Plates xii. (Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 1898.)