Family B o VID A S
(Hollow-horned ruminants, which include the Oxen, Sheep, Goats, and Antelopes)
T he existing members of this large family are characterised by the bony
appendages of the skull, which are covered with hollow unbranched horns that are
never shed. These coverings or sheaths grow continuously at the base, and in
old animals the sharp points are often abraded and rounded by constant wear.
In most species these ornaments are developed in both sexes, although generally
smaller and thinner in the females than in the males.
At the present day no Bovines exist in a truly wild condition in the British
Islands, but in Pleistocene days three Gazelles,1 a Musk Ox, a Wild Goat, a
Sheep, or perhaps two, and two or three Oxen inhabited the land.
The Bovidce do not possess upper canine teeth, and only very rarely exhibit
the tufts and glands on the lower parts of the hind legs which are a common
feature among the deer. The lower ends of the metacarpal and metatarsal bones,
which remain in many species of deer, are absent. In some cases the false hoofs
are so small as to be only small lumps of bone.
This family is a comparatively recent one, dating only from the Pliocene
Age. It has a very wide distribution in Europe, Asia, and America. The only
large continents from which Bovines are absent are Central and South America
and Australasia.
Genus Bos
THE OXEN
In the genus Bos, which includes the Bison, Yak, Buffaloes, and Cattle,
horns, in all wild species, are present in both sexes. There are no lachrymal
1 A new gazelle, Gaxella daviesii, has recently been described by Martin Hinton, Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. xix. part 6, 1906.
The Oxen
glands. The characters generally, seen in our domesticated cattle, need no
description. Cattle, usually in herds, are found in a variety of habitats. The
Yak lives in the snow-clad 1 roof of the world ’ ; the Buffaloes in dense reed-beds
or forests, the Bison in both forest and boundless prairie. Domesticated Oxen,
perhaps the most useful of all animals to man, can stand any temperature in
which grass will grow; they provide their masters with the necessities of life—
food and raiment, and are valuable in many ways as beasts of transport.