American Society of Mammalogists

A New Pleistocene Genus of American Mountain Deer

Author(s): Björn Kurtén
Source: Journal of Mammalogy, Vol. 56, No. 2 (May, 1975), pp. 507-508
Published by: American Society of Mammalogists
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1379377 .
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May 1975 GENERAL NOTES 507

OCCURRENCE OF MUSKRAT, ONDATRA ZIBETHICUS ALBUS, IN THE

DISTRICT OF KEEWATIN, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
The muskrat, Ondatra zibethicus, is a semiaquatic rodent, in Canada generally limited
to slow streams and ponds of boreal forests (Peterson, The mammals of eastern Canada,
pp. 169-171, 1966). Muskrats feed primarily on roots and stems of aquatic plants.
Harper (Land and fresh-water mammals of the Ungava Peninsula, p. 82, 1961) sug-
gested that severe winters and lack of suitable marshy areas may prevent muskrats
from living on the tundra.
In the summer of 1973, three muskrats were killed by Inuit boys in Eskimo Point,
Northwest Territories (61? 7' N, 94? 4' W), at least 129 kilometers (kmi) beyond
the tree line. Two specimens, not preserved, were an adult male and a yearling taken
on the same day in late June. The third (ROM no. 70682), a yearling male, taken in
early July has been identified as 0. z. albus by Dr. R. L. Peterson of the Royal On-
tario Museum.
In November of 1973, Suluk, a resident of Eskimo Point, caught an adult muskrat
16 km north of Eskimo Point, and described a muskrat lodge constructed there of
grasses and weeds.
There are no published records of muskrats in this region, although Mr. L. Voisey, a
life-long resident of the area, trapped a muskrat within 16 km of Eskimo Point in
1955. In general, the Inuit of the area are uninformed about this animal. From this
data and information from local people, the muskrats caught in 1973 seem to be
recent arrivals, although the lodge and adult found by Suluk indicate a small resi-
dent population. Le Boulenge (Terre Vie, 1972, 26(1):3-37) stated that young
muskrats are forced to disperse when about four months old or as yearlings the
following spring. The yearlings were caught early in the summer and may have
come from a parental territory on the barrenlands. There is no evidence to date of
muskrats between Eskimo Point and the tree line.-R. E. A. STEWART, J. R. STEPHEN, AND
R. J. BROOKs,
Department of Zoology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada NIG
2W1 and Government of the Northwest Territories, Eskimo Point, Northwest Territories,
Canada XOC OEO.Submitted 15 March 1974. Accepted 6 November 1974.

A NEW PLEISTOCENE GENUS OF AMERICAN MOUNTAIN DEER

The present note is intended to put on record the new cervid genus Navahoceros,
and to indicate its distribution in space and time, and its highly unusual adaptive char-
acters.
ORDER ARTIODACTYLA
FAMILY CERVIDAE
Navahoceros, new genus
Type species.-Rangifer? fricki Schultz and Howard.
Diagnosis.-Medium to large sized cervids with very thick-set limb bones and short
metapodials;males with simple forked antlers;females antlerless.

Navahocerosfricki (Schultz and Howard)

Sangamona? sp. Schultz and Howard (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadephia, 87:287,
1935).
Rangifer?fricki Schultz and Howard (loc. cit.).
Cervus lascrucensisFrick (Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 69:199, 1937).
Odocoileus halli Alvarez (Misc. Publ. Mus. Nat. Hist., Univ. Kansas, 51:103, 1969).

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508 JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY Vol. 56, No. 2

TABLE 1.-Lengths of limb bones in three species of North American Cervidae.

Navahoceros Sangamona Odocoileus
fricki, fugitiva, hemionus
San Josecito Cave Frankstown Cave Recent
Character (means) (one individual) (one individual)

Humerus 261.6 235 246

Radius 266.9 315 259
Metacarpus 217.4 - 227
Femur 328.6 - 288
Tibia 352.4 382 337
Metatarsus 248.5 320 278

Holotype.-Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia no. 13594, right upper and

lower jaws.
Locality and age.-Burnet Cave, New Mexico. Also Cueva Las Cruces and Slaughter
Canyon Cave, New Mexico; Tlapacoya, San Josecito Cave, Bustamante Cave, Cueva
de la Mina, and Cueva San Augustin, Mexico; Little Box Elder Cave, Wyoming.
Rancholabrean(Late Pleistocene).
Diagnosis.-Sole known species of genus. For limb bone dimensions see Table 1.
Discussion.-The present study is mainly based upon the large sample (several
hundred specimens) from San Josecito Cave, in the Natural History Museum of Los
Angeles County. The range of variation seen in this sample indicates that the differences
between R.? fricki and 0. halli are due to individual variation. Cervus lascrucensis
was based on an antler fragment of the same type as the San Josecito Cave material.
The characters of the limb bones are considered particularly significant and mean
lengths for the San Josecito Cave specimens (N from nine to 52) are compared with
single specimens of Sangamonaand Odocoileus in Table 1.
As is Sangamona, Navahoceros is a cervid intermediate in size between mule deer
and wapiti, but apart from size the two genera are almost antithetic. Sangamona has
stilt-like metapodials and long, slender limbs. In contrast, the shortened metapodials
and plump limb bones of Navahoceros are reminiscent of those in alpine bovids like
the chamois and ibex, and have no close parallel among other cervids. Although both
cervids are found in the Rancholabrean,their geographic distributions as known do not
overlap; Sangamona is present in central and eastern North America (Illinois, Iowa,
Maryland, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee), whereas Navahoceros occurs in
the mountainousregions of the West.
The characters of the limb bones in Navahoceros, and also the very moderate de-
velopment of the antlers in the male, are interpreted as an adaptation to an alpine
(climbing) mode of life. The vernacular name "mountain deer" is suggested for
Navahocerasfricki.
This research has been supported by a National Science Foundation grant (GB
31287) awarded to Bryan Patterson, Harvard University. I would like to thank Dr.
Theodore Downs and the staff of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History
for kindly making material available to me.-BJ6RN KURTEN, Museum of Zoology, 00100
Helsinki 10, Finland. Submitted 20 March 1974. Accepted 17 October 1974.

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