2. T h e S iw a l ik B ison—Bos Siv a l e n s i s (Extinct)
Bos sivalensis, Falconer, Palaontological Memoirs, vol. i. p. 555 (1868).;
Lydekker, Horns and Hoofs, p. 36 fj|1893||§g
Bison sivalensis, Lydekker, P a l. Ind. (Mem. Geol. Surv. Ind.Jj^sen’ 10,_
vol, i. p. 122, plsv ixv. and xvii. (1878^3 Rutimeycr, Abh. schweiz. pal.
Ges. vol. v. p. 185- (1878) ; Martin, Samml. Geol. Mas. Leiden, v S iv.
p. 61 (1887).
CharacterswL-'This extinct bison was originally named by Falconer on
the evidence of a skull from the Siwaliks now lost, and the type must
consequently be the upper portion of a skull with parts of the horn-cores
described by myself in 1878. That specimen was obtained from the
upper Siwalik deposits, which should probably be referred to the newer
Pliocene period. Although at first regarded as intermediate between the
yak and the bisons, it undoubtedly belongs to a true bison, exhibiting all
the characters mentioned under the head of the sub-genus as distinctive isf
the bisons proper from the yak. In the flatness; of the. forehead and
tubular form of the orbits this skull resembles the European as. distinct
from the American species; and the Siwalik bison, as the oldest known
in the Old World, may be regarded as the ancestral form of the group.
At the time when the Siwalik bison flourished, the outer ranges of the
Himalaya (in which its remains are found) were non-existent, while the
central ranges and the plateau of Tibet were almost certainly much lower
than at present. Consequently it is quite possible that animals like bison
may have been able to range from the Punjab into5 Central Asia.
Whether the yak is also a more specialised off-shoot from the same
primitive stock may well be left an open question. But seeing that it is
well-nigh certain that this animal has been derived from a bovine living
at lower elevations, and that it could scarcely have been a descendant of
the typical oxen, there is no species more likely to have been its ancestor
than the present one. I f this suggestion should be substantiated, there
would be evidence of the close relationship of the yak to the bisons.
Distribution.— Northern India, Java (vide Martin, op. cit), and probably
the intermediate countries, during the Pliocene period.
3. T he P l is to c en e B ison—Bos priscus (Extinct)
Urus priscus, Bojanus, Nova Acta Acad. Cas. Leop.-Car. vol. xiii.
p. 427 (1827^4 Owen, Rep. Brit. Atispc. for 1843, p. 232 (1844).
Bison priscus, Owen, Brit. Foss. Mamm. p. 491 (1846) ; Dawkins,
Quart. Journ. Geol. & ç fv ol. xxxi. p. 246 (1875) ; Wilckens, Biol. Central-
blatt, vol. v. p. 1 1 7 ( 18 8 5 ^ Allen, Mem. Mus. Harvard, vol. iv. p. 5
,(1876) ; Tscherski, Mem. Acad. St. Petersburg, vojgxl. art. 1, 75 (1892).
Bison antiquus, Leidy,' Pioç. Acad. Philadelphia, vol. vi. p. 1 1 7 (1852) ;
Allen, Mem. Mus. H a za rd , vol. iv. p. 21 (1876) ; Wilckens, B iff ^Central-
blatt, vol. v. p. 1 17 (1885) ; Rhoads, Prof. Acad. Philadelphia, 1895, p..;247>
1897, p. 501 ; Stewart, Kansas Quarterly, vol. vi. p. 127 (1897)^
Bison crassicornis, Richardson, Zool. -sSBgHerald, pp. 40 and 139 (1 ^59)*
Bison bonasus priscus, Lydekker, Cat. Fos^Mamm. Brit. Mus. pt. ii.
p. 24 (1885).
Bison alaskensis, Rhoads, Proc. Acad. Philadelphia, 1897, p. 490.
CW r t r Jg - S k u ll and horn-cores considerably larger than in the living
European and American bisons, with the forehead relatively broad and
flat, and the horn-cores not inclined backwardly at the- base, which is thus
situated nearly in the plane of the front border of the socket of the eye.
The horn-cores themselves long, and generally more or lt|| curving forwards,
although in some cases they are straighter and inclined upwards.
This species occurs typically in the Plistocene deposits o f Europe,