In the true goats this bone is oblong in shape, with a pair of tubercles
at the posterior and anterior extremities; of these, the posterior pair are
considerably the larger and more prominent, but both are situated in the
same antero-posterior line. In the true sheep, on the other hand, the
basioccipital is always considerably wider in front than behind, while the
anterior tubercles are much larger than the posterior pair and are placed
further apart. The basiocbipital of the bharal agrees exactly with that
of the goats, and is consequently widely different from this part in
the sheep.
In the structure of its horns the bharal again presents caprine affinities.
In the true sheep the horns are always thrown into parallel transverse
wrinkles extending completely round them ; the colour of the horns is
light or greenish-brown, and the direction of the extremity of the first
curve is downwards and forwards. In the goats, on the other hand, the
horns are never thrown into coarse and parallel transverse wrinkles, but
are marked by finer stria;, and may~or may not carry knobs anteriorly.
Their colour is olive- or blackish-brown ; they are generally more or less
angulated, and the extremity of the first curve is directed backwards and
upwards. In the bharal the structure and colour of the horns are the
same as in the goats. It is true their angulation is less marked and their
direction is more outward than in ordinary goats, but in both respects they
are paralleled by the horns of the East Caucasian tur. Indeed, the resemblance
between the horns of these two animals is so striking, that the
one last-named is frequently spoken of by sportsmen as the Caucasian
bharal. It may be added that the upward twist of the extremities of the
horns of the bharal presents an approximation to the spiral horns of the
markhor, and is quite different from the curve of an ordinary sheep’s horn.
As already mentioned, the Asiatic muflon makes the nearest approach of
any member of the caprovine group to the bharal in the curvature of
its horns.
Externally, the bharal is distinguished from the goats by the absence
of any strong •odour or of any trace of a beard in the males. There are
glands between the hoofs of all four feet in the bharal ; and in this respect
the animal agrees with the sheep and differs from the goats, in which
these are either present in the fore-feet alone or are wanting altogether.
The black markings on the head, body, and limbs are very like those
found in some of the goats.
In concluding the paper from which the above extracts have been
paraphrased, I considered that the bharal should be generically separated
from the sheep, and made the type of a distinct genus, for which Hodgson’s
name Pseudois should stand. The same view has been subsequently
urged by Dr. Matschie, who has recapitulated the foregoing observations,
and added that in its thick and clumsy legs and the form of the feet, the
bharal is decidedly more of a goat than a sheep.
So far as the structure of the skull and form of the horns are concerned,
this must, I think, be admitted ; but, on the other hand, the absence of a
beard, as well as of the characteristic odour of the goats, in the males, and
the presence of glands in all the four feet are essentially sheep-like
characters. And in some undoubted sheep, like the bighorn, the face-
glands are so small, that it would only be what we might expect to find
them wanting in another species of the same genus. As to the characters
of the legs and tail, on which Dr. Matschie lays considerable stress, I fail
to see that they afford any decisive evidence one way or the other. It is
urged that the tail of the bharal is thinner and more pointed than in the
sheep ; but in the larger sheep like O. poli and 0. ammon this appendage
when covered with the thick winter coat looks broad and blunt, while in
the summer pelage it appears thin and pointed.
That the bharal affords a connecting link between the more typical
sheep and the goats, must undoubtedly be admitted by all ; and i f any
change in the generally accepted systematic arrangement were made, it