North American representatives of the family Bovidce is, indeed, commonly
known as the Rocky Mountain goat, and might therefore seem entitled
to a place among the animals described in this volume. Zoologically,
however, it is not a goat in the proper sense of the term. It appears
more nearly allied to the so-called goat-antelopes, of which the European
chamois and the Oriental serows are familiar examples, and cannot therefore
be included in the sub-family Caprimz.
The various members of the extensive but somewhat ill-defined group
of Bovidce commonly known as antelopes are fully described and figured
in the Book o f Antelopes by Messrs. Sclater and Thomas. The present
volume treats of the oxen, sheep, and goats; and the Cervidce have already
been described in the Deer o f A ll Lanas. To complete the Pecora,
there accordingly remain the aforesaid goat-like antelopes among the
Bovidce, as well as the Prong-buck {AntHocapridf), and the giraffes and
their extinct allies (Girajjidce). The groups remaining are therefore somewhat
mixed, but it is to be hoped that some one will undertake the task
of their description. And it is^ above all most important that the extinct
forms should be included, as without them no adequate idea can be
gained of the affinities and extent of the family last-named.
In the groups mentioned in the title, the present volume includes
descriptions of all the named living species and races with which the
writer is acquainted. But, as in the case, of the deer, only such of the
extinct forms as are represented by remains sufficiently well preserved
to give a fair idea of their affinities are introduced into the text.
In addition to the attractiveness of the wild members eft, the groups:
under consideration on account of the magnificent horns which many of
them carry, oxen, sheep, and goats must always claim special attention on
account of their including the most important of the animals domesticated
by man for the purpose of affording food. The domesticated species
comprise (i) the common ox, (2) the humped ox, (3) the yak, (4) the
sheep, and (5) the goat, with their numerous breeds. Of the first, the
wild ancestral stock, although well known, is now extinct. Of the second
and fourth not only is the ancestral stock extinct, but it is also totally
unknown ; while o f the third and fifth the original wild form still
survives.
I. T he O x e n— G enus Bos
Bos, Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 12 , vol. i. p. 98 (1766).
Characters.—Size generally large, but occasionally medium, or even
small ; build massive and st<f§||t ; neck short and deep, and the head carried
but little, i f at all, above the level of the back ; frequently a large dewlap
to the throat. Extremity of muzzle large, broad, naked, and moist; no
glands on the face or between the hoofs ; four teats in the female; ears
large, pointed, and often nearly naked, except on the margins; tail
long, cylindrical, and frequently tufted at the tip, rarely long-haired
throughout ; main h B fs more or less pointed, and lateral hoofs well
developed. Horns present in both sexes of the existing forms ; generally
not greatly larger in the males than in the females, but wanting in females
of some extinct species ; placed on or near the vertex of the skull and
more or less separated at the bases ; at first generally directed somewhat
outwardly, then curving upwards, and sometimes also inwards at the tips ;
in section varying from cylindrical to triangular ; externally either perfectly
smooth, or marked with irregular transverse ridges and valleys ; in colour
varying from olive-green to black. Pelage either short and silky,.,or long
and shaggy ; generally no very marked difference, at least in4 colour,'
between summer and winter coat; general coloration usually uniform, but
ir> „some cases the lower portions o f the legs, and rarely the buttocks,
white, and in one or two instances a few white spots on the sides of the
face. Upper molar teeth with very tall and squared crowns, on the inner
side o f which there is a slender cylindrical additional column of dentine