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- Newsgroups: sci.archaeology
- Path: sparky!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!torn!mcshub!csx.cciw.ca!hcp
- From: hcp@csx.cciw.ca (H.C. Pulley)
- Subject: Re: elks, plus bone and stone
- Organization: Canada Centre for Inland Waters
- Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1992 03:50:44 GMT
- Message-ID: <1992Dec24.035044.9967@csx.cciw.ca>
- References: <1992Dec23.135602.9750@ac.dal.ca> <1992Dec23.234858.8201@pixel.kodak.com>
- Lines: 30
-
- In article <1992Dec23.234858.8201@pixel.kodak.com> young@clpd.kodak.com writes:
- >In article <1992Dec23.135602.9750@ac.dal.ca> hecate@ac.dal.ca writes:
- >>From what I have heard, elks = reindeer = caribou.
- >>Anyone else know the exact taxonomic relationship
- >>between these creatures.
- >
- > I don't know about Canada, but in the U.S., reindeer = caribou, and
- > elk is something a little different. From my limited sources, the
- > caribou (genus Rangifer) is the North American variety of reindeer,
- > while the elk is Cervus canadensis, or more properly called "wapiti"
- > in common usage, not "elk." In Europe, the elk is Alces alces, and
- > is related to what we call the moose, Alces americana. I believe
- > they are ALL in the family Cervidae, but then I just got all this
- > out of a dictionary, so I could be wrong!
-
- In Canada, the elk is considered different than caribou. The elk do not
- inhabit very much of Canada though. The elk is much bigger than a caribou
- (elk bulls weigh to 1000 lbs, caribou bulls only to 300 lbs). Caribou live in
- a much larger area of Canada than elk.
-
- "Wapiti" is an indian name for elk (sorry, I don't know what nation). (Is
- that enough of a reference to archaeology that I won't be frowned upon for
- posting it here? Not quite: I didn't think so...).
-
- Harry
- --
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-