Page 4 - Masseti _ Zava_2002

Fig. l- Incomplete lefi: anrler of Cervus elapbw L., 1758, collected by E. H. Giglioli an Lampedusa, 10th August 1882,
and stili kept at the Zoologica! Museum of the University ofFiorence (n. cat. MZUF C 11937) (photograph by Saulo
Bambi, courtesy of the Zoologica! Museum "La Specula" of the University of Florence)

where he collected it on the 10 August 1882 (Giglioli, 1912). This specimen
consists of the distai portion of a left antler missing the proximai part which
appears to have been cut off just above the trez tine. Consequently, it is not
possible to ascertain whether this an der was characterised by the presence of the
latter tine, together with that of the bez or second tine. The an der is distinguished
by the absence of the crown and by a simplified architecture. The three points of
the distai portion are not greatly developed. It is aiso possible that the beam was
cut dose to the brow tine. In this case the surviving ramifications could be
respectively the trez tine shifted upwards and a distai point characterised by a
slight bifurcation. This hypothesis would be supported by the angle between the
trez tine, the main stem of the beam and the bifurcated distai point (Masseti and
Zava, 2002). The section of the beam is elliptic, not circtùar, and tends to flatten
out towards the top. The total length of the antler portion is 416 mm.
Unfortunately, the loss of the proximai portion makes it impossible to determine
the age category of this specimen through evaiuation of the development of the
coronet, and the shape and dimensions of the brow tine. The dimension of the
mid-section of the beam is 33.25 mm x 28.96 mm. The simplicity of the antler
architecture is typicai to adaptation to environments of low trophic production.
It seems likely that the trophic, environmentai and genetic conditions of the
Lampedusa population were such this type of antler architecture that may have
been characteristic of adult maies (over five years old) (Masseti and Zava, 2002).

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