being solely due to their greater age. Lastly, I have had an opportunity
of seeing several mounted heads of various ages in the collection of Prince
DemidofF.
Comparing the horns of the two adult males obtained from the
Western Caucasus by Mr. Littledale with the figure of the adult male
F ig. 47.—Skull and Horns of male West Caucasian Tur. From a specimen shot by
Mr. St. George Littledale.
head from the Central Caucasus figured by Pallas, I can detect no variation
except such as is due to difference of age, the beard in the original figure
being of the long and narrow type. And since I have shown the alleged
wide interval between the tips of its horns to be solely due to immaturity,
the so-called C. severtzowi, so far as its horns are concerned, is evidently
inseparable from C. caucasica of Pallas.
With regard to the beard, it is first necessary to show that the
immature specimens in the British Museum from the Central Caucasus,
in which the beard is short and wide, are inseparable, so far as their horns
are concerned, from the adult males. I have compared the horns of the
large||sof th eS immature males, which, as already said, are knotted in
front throughout their length, with the tips of those of the adult specimen
shown in fig. 47, and have found that the two correspond in every respect.
This indicates that the short horns, knotted in front throughout their
length, bäong to young animals; while long horns with such knotting
restricted to the terminal third or half characterise the adult. In respect
to the beard, specimens in early winter pelage belonging to Prince
DemidofF have this appendage consisting of a broad and short basal fringe
extending the whole width of the chin, in the centre of which is a long
narrow tuft like that of the adult male in the British Museum. And it
accordingly .-seem® that whereas in immature animals the winter beard
consists merely of the broad short fringe (fig. 48), in.older individuals at
the same season the long-central tuft is superadded. On the other hand,
adult individuals in the- -Summer entirely lose the basal fringe and retain
only the long central tuft.
All the alleged points of difference between the so-called C. severtzowi
and C. caucasica being now shown to be inconstant, the evidence for the
specific separation of the latter must be regarded as valueless. In this view
I am confirmed by Dr. Biichner, who has written to me that, in his opinion,
there are but two species of Caucasian tur, namely, C. cylindricornis from the
eastern, and C. caucasica from the western half of the range.
Mr. St. George Littledale has, however, in his possession a skull with
horns of a very remarkable type obtained by himself from the neighbourhood
of Elbruz, which at first sight might seem to suggest a third form.
Although belonging to an adult male, the horns are considerably shorter
than those of the typical C. caucasica; and in their curvature and the
direction of their tips, as well as in the total absence of knots from the