Museum Number. Length along
Outer Curve. -
Basal
Circumference. Tip to Tip.
4 5 , 4 2 8 3 3 1 7 3 2
4 5 - 4 2 9 3 8 1 8 . 5 4 ° c ;
4 5 -4 3 ° 3 6 1 8 2 5
4 5 . 4 3 1 3 4 1 8 3 2
4 5 . 4 3 2 ■ 3 1 1 8 3 3
4 5 . 4 3 3 3 2 > 5 3 4
To obtain an idea o f the full dimensions, allowance must be made for
the horny sheaths, which, of course, have perished.
Distribution.—During the Plistocene period nearly the whole o f Europe,
ranging from the British Islands to the south of Russia, and from Scandinavia
to Spain and Italy ; probably also extending into Western Asia.
In many parts o f Central and Eastern Europe the species survived as a wild
animal till a comparatively late date in the historic' period.
b. N o r th A f r ic a n W ild R a c e—Bos t a u r u I Sm a u r it a n ic u s (Extinct)
Bos primigenius mauritamcus, P. Thomas, Bull. Sac. Zool. France, 1881,
p. 36, pi. iii.
Bos opisthonomus, PometpCarte Géol. Algérie, Mon. P aE L L ef^ Boe u fs,
p. 16 (1894).
Characters.— Nearly allied to the European wild race, but with the
forehead shorter, the horn-cores curving less forwards and more downwards,
and the limbs relatively longer and more slender.
The Bos opisthonomus of M. Pomel, which is practically admitted by its
describer as identical with the B. primigenius mauritanicus o f Mr. P. Thomas,
is regarded by the former writer as entitled to rank as a distinct species ;
but there can be little hesitation in classing it as a variety o f the
common ox.
Distribution.—Northern Africa in the districts o f Algeria and Tunis,
probably during the Plistocene epoch, but perhaps surviving into the
early historic period.
D o m e s t ic a t e d B r e ed s— Bos t a u r u s t y p ic u s
Urus scoticus, H. Smith, in Griffith’s Animal Kingdom, vol. iv. p. 4 17
I 1 827).
Bos scoticus, Swainson, Clasped Quadrupeds, p. 285 (1835). '
Bos longifrons, Owen, Rep. Brit. Asf$t. for 1843, p. 234 (1844).
Bos frontosus, Nilsson,; Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 2, vol. iv. p. 349
(1S49)-
Bos taurus, var. scoticus, Bell and Alston, Brit. Quadrupeds, p. 368 (1874).
Bos taurusf’var. longifrons, Lydekker, Cat. Foss. Mamm. Brit. Mus. pt. ii.
p. 16 (1885).
The domesticated breeds of cattle form, as already mentioned, not only
the type of the species Bos taurus, but likewise of the genus Bos itself, and
therefore of the family Bovidce. Although, as -implied by its title, the
present volume does not profess to treat of domesticated animals, a few
words are advisable in this place on account of the widely spread idea that
the halfjWild cattle of Chillingham and isome Bther British parks are
aboriginally wild animals. This, however, may be confidently stated to be
an erroneous idea ; and although they may have existed in their present
condition for a very long period, it is practically certain they are descended
from a domesticated or semi-domesticated breed, possibly not very distantly
removed from the wild aurochs. Consequently, they have no right to the
specific name scoticus, which has been given them. The same remark
applies to the names longifrons and frontosus, which have been applied to
a small breed from the peat of the fens and other superficial deposits
commonly known as the Celtic short-horn, and which undoubtedly appears
to have been- a domestic animal.