OVIS. 83 



Genl. Char. Colors pale. Skull similar to that of A. americana, 

 orbits less protruding antero-inf eriorly ; premaxillae and nose slender; 

 bullae thinner; lips of posterior nares longer. 



Color. Similar to A. antericana, but paler; median dark streak on 

 neck, sometimes reaching shoulders; occiput whitish with median 

 dark stripe. 



Measurements. Total length, 1420; tail vertebrae, 145; hind foot, 

 410; height at shoulders, 830 (ex Merr., 1. c.). Skull: occipito-nasal 

 length, 216; breadth between outer edge of orbits, 125; width 

 between orbits across frontals, 104; length of nasals laterally, 93; 

 palatal arch to incisive foramina, 127; length of upper tooth row, 72; 

 width of palate between last molars, 46.5; length of mandible, angle 

 to alveoli of incisors, 204; height of condyle, 67; at coronoid process, 

 95; length of lower tooth row, 76. Skull of old male from State of 

 Chihuahua, Mexico. 



The BOVID^ or Hollow-horned Ruminants form an extensive family 

 in the Old World, and are very generally distributed except in Austra- 

 lia. They are not represented in Central or South America, but certain 

 forms are to be found in Mexico and northward to the Arctic Sea. 

 One of the noblest members of the family, the American Bison, which 

 at one time was found in millions on the plains of North America, is 

 now practically extinct in the wild state. In this family are included 

 the Antelopes, confined chiefly to Africa, in which continent a great 

 number of species are still to be found. But some, which in herds 

 like those of the Bison, once roamed the veldt in countless numbers, 

 have disappeared before the hunter's rifle, and many species yet 

 living will meet the same fate if government protection is not 

 afforded them. In America, beside the Bison, now no longer to be 

 considered as among the wild animals, there are the Musk Oxen and 

 several varieties of Mountain Sheep. Of these last, two varieties of the 

 Rocky Mountain species are found in the northern part of Mexico 

 and Lower California, and are the only representatives of the Bovida, 

 south of the United States boundary. 



Fam. IV. Bovidxe. Cattle, Sheep, Etc. 

 31. Ovis. Sheep. 



T o-o. po^o. T>tt. M 3-3 _ . . 

 i '4-4' U 'o-o *V-S M '3-3 3 2 



Ovis Linn., Syst. Nat., i, 1758, p. 70; and i, 1766, p. 97. Type Ovis 

 aries Linnaeus. 



