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The Descent of Man

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evidence <strong>of</strong> sexual selection. Nevertheless he<br />

who attributes the white and dark vertical stripes<br />

on the flanks <strong>of</strong> various antelopes to this<br />

process, will probably extend the same view to<br />

the Royal Tiger and beautiful Zebra.<br />

We have seen in a former chapter that when<br />

young animals belonging to any class follow<br />

nearly the same habits <strong>of</strong> life as their parents,<br />

and yet are coloured in a different manner, it<br />

may be inferred that they have retained the<br />

colouring <strong>of</strong> some ancient and extinct progenitor.<br />

In the family <strong>of</strong> pigs, and in the tapirs, the<br />

young are marked with longitudinal stripes,<br />

and thus differ from all the existing adult species<br />

in these two groups. With many kinds <strong>of</strong><br />

deer the young are marked with elegant white<br />

spots, <strong>of</strong> which their parents exhibit not a trace.<br />

A graduated series can be followed from the<br />

axis deer, both sexes <strong>of</strong> which at all ages and<br />

during all seasons are beautifully spotted (the<br />

male being rather more strongly coloured than

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