# Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London/Volume 28/On the Cervidæ of the Forest-bed of Norfolk and Suffolk

2. On the Cervidæ of the Forest-bed of Norfolk and Suffolk. By W. Boyd Dawkins, Esq., M.A,, F.R.S., F.G.S.
Contents.
1. A new species. 2. Other species in the Forest-bed. 3. Classiiicatory value of the Cervidæ.
1. A New Species.
Among the very remarkable and little-known Cervidæ from the Forest-bed of Norfolk, there is one form which is certainly new to Britain, and which I cannot identify with any of the Continental species. It is represented by a series of antlers in the Museums of Norwich and of the Geological Survey of England and Wales, in the British Museum, and in the collection of Mr. Jarvis, of Cromer. The clue to the restoration of the perfect antler is afforded by a specimen which was obtained by my friend the late Rev. S. W. King from Happisburgh.
The series of antlers in question is characterized by the sudden ​downward curvature of the cylindrical brow-tyne; and I have therefore named the animal to which they belonged Cervus verticornis.
Characters.—The base of the antler is set on to the head very obliquely (fig. 1); and immediately above it there springs the cylindrical brow-tyne, b, which in this specimen (fig. 1) has been torn away from the antler before it was deposited in the ferruginous gravel. Its sudden downward and outward curvature is shown in the magnificent antler found by the Rev. J. Gunn, and now in the Norwich Museum (fig. 2), and which has been described by Dr. Falconer. Immediately above the brow-tyne the beam is more or less cylindrical; but it becomes gradually more and more flattened until it gives off the oval second tyne, c; and it does not again recover its rounded section. A third, flattened tyne (fig. 1, d) springs on the anterior side of the antler; and immediately above it the broad expanded crown is proved, by the convergence of the compact outer walls of the antler at e, to have terminated in at least two points, and possibly more. No tyne is thrown off on the posterior side of the antler; but the sweep is uninterrupted from the antler-base to the first point of the crown. The beam is slightly flattened at the front where the brow-tyne, b, is given off. In all the specimens which have not been rolled, the surface is traversed by broad and shallow grooves. The second tyne, c, is, in all the specimens, set on in a different plane from the brow-tyne.
A secondary brow-tyne is given off close to the base in one large antler in the British Museum. This circumstance, however, is of no more importance in classification than in the parallel case of the Stag. In Mr. Gunn's large specimen in the Norwich Museum a small point or "offer" immediately below the brow-tyne may indicate that, on the older antlers, the development of two brow-tynes was not uncommon.
These antlers differ from those of the Cervus megaceros in the greater curvature downwards of the brow-tyne and the close approximation of the second tyne, c, to b, as well as in the crown being less palmated. The beam also is stouter in proportion to its length. ​
* Fig. 1.—Right Antler of Cervus verticornis (Jermyn-Street Museum, King collection).a. Section across palm.
* Fig. 2.—Left Antler of Cervus verticornis (Norwich Museum, Gunn collection).
The following are the measurements (in inches) of the principal antlers which I have examined:—
| | Geolog. Survey (King collect.). | Norwich Museum. | Norwich Museum. (Gunn collect.). | British Museum. |
| Maximum length................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ | 12⋅0 | ...... | 13⋅5 | 17⋅5 |
| Circumference of beam................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ | 4⋅8 | | ...... | 19⋅0 |
| Basal circumference................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ | 7⋅5 | 7⋅2 | 10⋅4 | 11⋅5 |
| Long diameter of base................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ | 3⋅0 | | | |
| Short diameter of base................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ | 2⋅0 | | | |
| Circumference of brow-tyne................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ | 2⋅5 | ...... | 7⋅5 | 8⋅0 |
| From brow-tyne to second tyne................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ | 2⋅0 | ...... | 3⋅3 | 6⋅5 |
| From second tyne to third tyne................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ | 1⋅8 | 2⋅8 | | |
2. Other Species from the Forest-bed.
The Cervidæ of the Forest-bed present a most remarkable mixture of forms. Dr. Falconer has determined one species, Cervus Polignacus (Palæontographical Memoirs, ii. p. 479), which occurs also in the Pliocene lacustrine deposit of Mont Perrier, near Issoire; and he has described a new species, with peculiar flattened branching antlers, as 'C. Sedgwickii (op. cit. p. 476). The Stag, Roe, and Cervus megaceros' are also present. To these I am now able to add the species which M. Laugel obtained from the Pliocenes of St.-Prest, near Chartres, and described in the 'Bull, de la Société Géol.' 2d ser, xix. p. 711, 1862, under the name of Cervus (megaceros) carnutorum.
It is based on the frontlet with portions of the beams of the antlers. The latter are round and deeply grooved, and the burr is strongly defined and annular. The brow-antler is removed nearly 2 inches from the burr, and rises at an acute angle to the beam. According to Prof. Gervais, the skull differs from that of the Irish Elk in the interval between the bases of the antlers being smaller. The following measurements are taken from his work 'Animaux Vertébrés vivants et fossiles,' 1867–9, p. 85:—
| | St.-Prest. | Oyster-beds, Norfolk. |
| Interval between pedicles................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ | 1⋅75 | 1⋅8 |
| Frontal measurement from below pedicle................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ | 5⋅92 | 6⋅0 |
| Suborbital foramen to its fellow................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ | 3⋅6 | 3⋅7 |
| Circumference of beam at burr................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ | 10⋅2 | 7⋅3 |
| Distance from burr to first tyne................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ | 1⋅85 | |
| Length of pedicle, measured behind................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ | ...... | 1⋅9 |
A waterworn frontlet of Cervus in the Museum of the Geological Society, and obtained from the "Oyster-beds" of the Norfolk coast ​agrees in every measurement with the above, with the sole exception that the antler is slightly smaller (a point which varies with age). Although, therefore, the brow-tyne has been broken away, which is so important a guide to the determination of the different Cervine species, the specimen from Norfolk may be assigned to the same species. It is so like the lithograph given by Prof. Gervais (op. cit. pl. xvi. fig. 4) that it does not require a figure. A second frontlet of precisely the same character has been obtained from the Forest-bed at Easton, Suffolk, by Mr. Ewen, and is now preserved in the Chichester Museum. The left antler is in the same condition as that of the French specimen, being broken off just above the first tyne. The base of a shed right antler obtained from the Chillesford beds of Aldeby by the late C. B. Rose, Esq., of Yarmouth, and now in the Norwich Museum, presents the deeply channelled cylindrical beam with a strongly defined burr running round it at right angles to the long axis, the brow-antler rising at a distance of about 2 inches from the burr—points which characterize C. carnutorum. In my belief it belongs to that species. The basal circumference is 6⋅5; and the first tyne is 2⋅5 inches from the burr (fig. 3). Nor is there any thing strange in the Deer of St.-Prest being found in the Forest-bed, since Trogontherium Cuvieri, Rhinoceros megarhinus, and Hippopotamus major have been furnished by both strata.
Fig. 3.—Right Antler of Cervus carnutorum (Norwich Museum, Rose collection).
3. Classificatory Value of the Cervidæ.
It remains now to examine the value in classification of this ​singular group of Cervidæ, consisting of, at the very least, the following species:—
The first three of these are not of Pliocene age, if the Mammaliferous strata of Auvergne, Marseilles, and the Val d'Arno be taken as the Pliocene standards. Their presence, therefore, in the Forest-bed points forwards rather than backwards in time, since they are abundant in the caves and river-deposits of the Pleistocene age. The next, on the other hand, is a well-known Pliocene species; while the Cervus carnutorum is common to the Forest-bed and the river-strata of St.-Prest, and the last two peculiar to the Forest-bed.
This peculiar mixture of Cervine species seems here to indicate that, in classification, the Forest-bed belongs rather to an early stage of the Pleistocene than to the Pliocene; and this inference is corroborated by the presence of the Mammoth, which is so characteristic of the Pleistocene age.