Mr. Blyth ow the Genus Ovis. 257; 



discussed, whether the tame Sheep had descended from the Argali 

 of Siberia or the Moufflon of Corsica ; and now that so many more 

 indisputably distinct wild species have been added to the catalogue of 

 this genus, it is probable that we are still very far from having as- 

 certained the complete existing number, but that several more yet 

 remain to be discovered upon the lofty table-lands and snowy moun- 

 tains of middle Asia, from the Caucasus and Taurus to the Altai, 

 and among them, it is very probable, some much more nearly allied 

 to the domestic races than any at present known. 



The M^hole of the foregoing animals appertain to my subgeneric 

 group Ovis, as distinguished from Ammotragus, which latter is cha- 

 racterized by the absence of suborbital sinuses, like the Goats, but 

 differs from the latter by possessing interdigital /o5.s«, as in other 

 Sheep. This difference between the Goats and Sheep appears to 

 have been first noticed by Pallas, and has since been descanted upon 

 by Prof. Gene in vol. xxxvii. of the Memorie della Reale Accademia 

 delle Scienze di Torino. The fact of such a diversity in genera 

 so nearly allied in habitat as the Goats and Sheep, renders the pro- 

 blem of the utility of the structure in question somewhat difficult of 

 solution. T\\Q species upon which I found the subgenus Ammotra- 

 gus, has decidedly an Ovine, rather than a Caprine aspect, when 

 viewed alive : the male emits no stench, as in the Goats ; the bleat 

 is precisely that of Ovis, and the animal butts like a Ram, and not 

 like a Goat. Unlike the other species of admitted wild Sheep, as 

 well as the long-horned or true wild Goats, it has a concave chaf- 

 fron, and no markings on the face and limbs : its tail is rather long, 

 which is the case in no species of Capra, and is also remarkable for 

 being tufted at the extremity. The indigenous habitat. North 

 Africa, is a further peculiarity in the genus in which it is here 

 placed, though two species of wild Goats respectively inhabit Upper 

 Egypt and the snowy heights of Abyssinia. 



15. O. Tragelaphus, Pallas : the African Goat- Sheep. This 

 animal appears to vary considerably in size, some exceeding a Fallow 

 Deer in stature, while others are much smaller. It has no beard 

 on the chin, like the true Goats, but is remarkable for the quantity 

 of long hanging hair in front of the neck, and on the upper part of 

 the fore-limbs, the former attaining in fine males to about a foot in 

 length, and the latter to 9 inches ; there is also some lengthened 

 hair at the setting on of the head, and a dense nuchal mane, the 

 hairs of which are 3 inches long, continued over the withers till lost 

 about the middle of the back. General colour tawny or yellow-brown. 

 Horns moderately stout, turning outwards, backwards, and so in- 

 wards, with the tips inclining towards each other. 



The splendid male in the British Museum measures 5 feet from 

 nose to tail, and tail 9 inches, or with its terminal tuft of hair 13 

 inches ; height of the back 3^ feet, but the living animal would not 

 have stood so high by several inches ; from muzzle to base of horn 

 II inches, and ears 5 inches. The finest pair of horns which I have 

 seen are in the same collection, and measure 25 inches over the cur- 

 vature, I0| round at base, with an antero-posterior diameter of 2^ 



Ann. §• Mag, N. Hist, Vol. vii. S 



