Bison bonasus, Flower and Garson, Cat. Osteal. Mus. Coll. Surg. pt. ii.
p. 232 (1884) ; Büchner, Mém. Acad. St. Pétersbourg, ser. 8, vol. iii. No. 2
(1896) ; Westberg, Festschrift Ver. Riga, 1896, p. 267.
Characters:—Height at . shoulder 6 feet 1 inch tdfió feet 2 inches.
Horns relatively long and slender, curving upwards, forwards, and inwards,
set well forward on the forehead, which is Comparatively flat and broad.
Hind-quarters relatively high ; pasterns long ; tail reaching to the hocks,
or below. JVTane of bull in summer, pelage curly and of moderate length
and not extending very far back on the body, leaving the heavily fringed
ears quite distinct, and forming a longer and thicker mass on the headj:
neck, throat, and the middle line of the chest. In the cow confined tc||
the nape of the neck, forehead, and middle of lower 'part <Jj| face, tbtcjat,
and median l in e » ’ the chest. General colour uniform chestnut-brown
throughout, without perceptibly darkening on the mane. In the skeleton
the neural spine of the »seventh cervical vertebra moderately elevated, and
that of the sixth inclined forwards-.
The above description is taken from four mounted specimens' in the
British Museum—namely, an adult bull from Lithuania presented by the
Emperor of Russia about the year 1848, a younger Lithuanian bull, and
a bull and cow from the Caucasus presented by Mr. St. George Littledale.
Between the Lithuanian and Caucasian examples there appear tS b e no
differences even of sub-specific value. It is true that the large Lithuanian
bull is considerably taller than the Caucasian specimen and has a ihorter-
tail, but the former difference may be partly exaggerated in the mounting,
and the latter seems due td 1 imperfection ; the smaller Lithuanian bull,
which is mounted in a lyingMown posture, having the tail of apparently
the same approximate length as in the Caucasian examples. In both the
latter the otherwise black hoofs have yellowish-brown margins, which are
not apparent in the Lithuanian specimens, but this may be due to the
hoofs being less worn in the former than in the latter.
Compared with the American bison, the skull is characterised by the
marked flatness of the forehead and the very tubular orbits ; the horns
extending at first outwards in the »plane of the forehead, and then curving
forwards, with no backward flexure, and very little incurving towards the
tips. The nasal bones. arc likewise shorter and wider. In all the above
respects the Eujgjpean bison is- much nearer to the Plistocene bison than
is the American species.
The male and female Caucgan skulls in the British Museum show
that in the bull the horns at their origin are directed more outwardly
and then bend inwardly more -suddenly than is the case in the cow, in
which they are much more slender and form a more regular curve.
The male skull, more|per, is ji|f a shorter and wider type, especially
aertB the forehead, than th a tHI: the g#w. In the case of fossil skulls
very similar differences appear to have been reckoned as ofMpecific
importance.
Th:«Following dimension» of horns are recorded by Mr. Rowland
Ward^ 9
Length 0
Outside Cu
n Basal
rve. Circumference. 1» .
Widest Sex. Locality.
I 8: i 12J P f f J 9 i Male Lithuania
18 I 2 i 16 20 ,, Caucasus
i f e 10 l 8l ? ,, Lithuania
H i 8 ? Female ?
13 P i sê 14 ” Caucasus
In a Caucasian bull killed b y Mr. St. George Littledale the length
from the nose to the root of the tail measured 10 feet i inch, the height at
the shoulder 5 feet 1 1 jinches, and the girth of the body approximately
8 feet 4 inches.
Distribution.—As already stated, the Plistocene bison ranged over the
greater part of Europe and Northern Asia, and it is now impossible to say
at what date its descendants became dwarfed intgtihe modern form. It is,