described under the name of B . baini, are apparently specifically indistinguishable.
Rude sculptures on rock-faces indicate that in Algeria the
species was coexistent with man. Regarding its affinities, the observations
of Monsieur P. Thomas are significant. He writes that, apart from certain
differences, nothing is more like the skull of this species than one of the
Indian buffalo ; but, on the other hand, the body-skeletonr comes much
closer to that of the Cape species. I f a very large arni skull were affixed
to the skeleton of a Cape buffalo, we should have_ an animal very like the
fossil. Monsieur Pomel is of opinion that the present species is equally
distinct from both the African and. the Indian buffalo.
The resemblance to the Indian buffalo, in my own opinion, is probably
largely due to the excessive development of the horns, and therefore
superficial ; and I think it is much nearer to the African species, of which
indeed it may not improbably be regarded as the ancestral form. It is
important to observe that its horn-cores are much more like those of the
Abyssinian than those of the Cape race o f the modern African species, from
which it may be inferred that the helmet-like mass-formed by the horns
on the forehead o f the latter is a specialised feature o f late origin. Not
less noteworthy is the greatly inferior length of the horns in all the races
of the living species. At the same time, seeing that many African mammals
appear to have been derived from extinct Indian types, the present species
may have retained some indications of affinity with the Indian buffalo.
Distribution.-^ Africa during the Prehistoric and Plistocene periods,
ranging from Algeria to the Cape.
3. T h e S iw a l i k B u f f a lo—Bos p l a t y c e r o s (Kxtinct)
Bubalus platyceros, Lydekker, Rec. Geol. Surv. Ind. vol. x. p. 31 ^877^»
P a l. Ind. [Mem. Geol. Surv. Ind.), ser. 10, vol. i. p. 127, pi., xviii. (1878),
Cat. Foss. Mamm. Brit. Mus. pt. ii. p. 29 (1885).
Bubalus sivalensis, Riitimeyer, Abh. schvoeiz. pal. Ges. vol. v. p. 138
(1878).
Characters.— Allied to the Indian buffalo, but with the forehead nearly
flat, and the horn-cores, which are perfectly triangular in section, more widely
separated at their bases, set much more obliquely on the forehead, situated
more in advance of the plane of the occiput, and with their front face in
the plane of the forehead. The horn-cores tapering regularly and rapidly,
and directed upwards, outwards, and somewhat inwards, in a symmetrical
curve. In correlation with the position of the horn-cores, the occipital
surface of the skull is more distinct from the ridge between the horn-cores
than is the case in the living Indian buffalo. The approximate span of the
horn-cores in the type specimen is 29 inches.
This well-marked species is represented by a somewhat imperfect skull
in the Indian Museum, Calcutta (fig. 24), and a still more imperfect
one in the British Museum.