353 



UNGULATA 



Tail short, and molar teeth caprine. One existing and two fossil 

 species, Palaearctic and Nearctic. 



The animal commonly known as the Musk-Ox (Ovibos moscliatus), 

 though approaching in size the smaller varieties of Oxen, is in 

 structure and habits closely allied to the Sheep, its affinities being 

 well expressed by the generic name Ovibos bestowed upon it by 

 De Blainville. The specific name, as also the common English 

 appellatives " Musk-Ox," " Musk-Buffalo," or " Musk-Sheep," applied 

 to it by various authors, refer to the musky odour which the animal 

 exhales. This does not appear to be due to the secretion of a 

 special gland, as in the case of the Musk-Deer; but it must be 



; Fig. 147.— The Musk-Ox (Ovibos moschatus). 



observed that, except as regards the osteology, very little is known 

 of the anatomy of this species. It about equals in size the small 

 Welsh and Scotch cattle. The head is large and broad. The horns 

 in the old males have extremely broad bases, meeting in the median 

 line, and covering the brow and whole crown of the head. They 

 are directed at first downwards by the side of the face and then 

 turn upwards and forwards, ending in the same plane as the eye. 

 Their basal halves are of a dull white colour, oval in section and 

 coarsely fibrous; their middle part smooth, shining, and round ; then- 

 tips black. In the females and young males the horns are smaller, 

 and their bases are separated from each other by a space in the 

 middle of the forehead. The ears are small, erect, and pointed, and 

 nearly concealed in the hair. The space betAveen the nostrils and 

 the upper lip is covered with short close hair, as in Sheep and Goats, 

 without any trace of the bare muffle of the Oxen. The greater part 



