a. E urop ean W i l d R a c e , or A urochs—Bos t a u r | | p r im i g e n i u s '
(Extinct)-.
Bos primigenius, Bojanus, Nova Acta Acad. Cas. Leop.-Car. vol. xiii.
pt. 2, p. 422 (1827) ; Owen, Brit. Foss. Mamm. p. 4 9 8 *8 4 6 ) ; Wilckens,
Biol. Centralblatt, voL.v. p. 1 1 1 (1885) ; Nehring, Landwirtsch. Jah rb . vol.
xxv. p. 915 (1896) ; Schiemenz, Biol. Centralblatt, vol. xvii. p. 793 (1897),..
Fig. 1.—Restored skull of the Aurochs. From a specimen in the British Museum from the
brick-earth of Ilford, Essex.
Bos (Taurus) urus, H. Smith, in Griffith’É Animal Kingdom, vol. iv.
p. 414, v. p. 376 (1827),
Bos urus, Fleming, Brit. Animais, p. 24 (1828) ; Dawkiil| Quart.
Jou rn. Geol. Soc. vol. xxii. p. 391 (1866).
Bos latifrons, Fischer, Bull. Soc. Moscou, vol. ii. art. 2 (1830), Mém.
Acad. Moscou, vol. iii. p. 281 (1834), nec Harlan, 18 15 .
Bos taurus priscus, Bos fossilis, Urus fossilis, Urus colossus, and Bos
ccesaris, Keferstein, Naturgeschichte, vol. ii. p. 193 (1834).
Bos taurus giganteus, Owen, Brit. Foss. Mamm. p. 502 (1846).
Bos giganteus, Davies, Cat. Brady Coll. p. 47 (1874).
Bos taurus primigenius, Lydekker, Cat, Foss, Mamm. Brit. Mus. pt. ii.
P-. 2 ( 1 8 8 5 B
History.—Although the wild ox of Europe was originally known
as the aurochs, or ur, latinised into urus, after its extinction these names
became transferred to the bigln,: as the only surviving European representative,
of the tribe. Much uncertainty long prevailed with regard to
the date when this wild bull ceased to exist in its original condition in the
;jjprests -®'f the Continent. Its remains occtir abundantly in the later
1’listoccne deposits of Britain, those from the brick-earth of Ilford, in
Essex, being remarkable for their fine state of preservation, and showing
well the enormous dimension!) attained by this magnificent animal.
Similar remains are met with in many British caverns, and also in the fens
,ijf Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire ; these latter peat-deposits belonging
to the prehistoric period. Other remains indicate that the range of the
animal extended southwards into North Africa and eastwards into Western
and Northern Asia. The q iit io n as: to the d a te ® f its survival in the
wild state in Europe has been taken up by Dr. A. Nehring of Berlin, and
still later by Dr. P. Schiemenz. The most important evidence is afforded
by one Herberstain, who lived from i486 to 1566, and in 1550 published
a work^|niider the title of Moscovia. 1 This work contains figures of
two quite distinct types of wild European cattle, one o f which is clearly
the bison, and the other the aurochSor ur ; and it is important to notice
that Herberstain had no hesitation in referring the latter names to the wild
ox as distinct from the bison. Herberstain himself appears to have
* i herberstain (Sigism. Baro), Commentari della Moscovia et parimente della Russia, tradotti novamente
di latino in lingua Italiana, sm. 4to; woodcut map ajjk i woodcuts, Vefief, G. B. Pedrezzano, 1550.