22 Oxen 



In its present broken condition the span ot the horn-cores of the type 



specimen (Fig. 2) is considerably over six feet, from which it may be 



inferred that in life they were little, if at all, short of ten or eleven feet 

 from tip to tip. 



Distribution. — Northern India during the Pliocene period. Not im- 

 probably the skull from the same deposits described by myself as Bos 

 planifrons may indicate the female ot this species. 



ii. BiBoviNE Group — Sub-Genus Bibos 



Bihos, Hodgson, yourn. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. vi. p. 499 (1837). 



Gavcvus, Hodgson, op. cit. vol. xvi. p. 706 (1847). 



Synceriis, Hodgson, loc. cit. 1847, '''"'-" Synccra, Gray, 1821. 



Characters. — Allied to the typical group, but the forehead shorter, the 

 interval between the bases ot the horns and the sockets ot the eyes less, the 

 horns generally more or less elliptical in section, especially at their bases in 

 old bulls, the tail relatively shorter, reaching but little, if at all, below the 

 hocks, and a more or less distinct elevated ridge extending from the nape 

 and shoulders to the middle ot the back, where it suddenly terminates, 

 frequently forming a step of several inches in height. Colour of adult 

 bulls generally dark blackish-brown, with the legs from above the knees 

 and hocks to the hoofs white or whitish ; females and young males 

 either of a paler colour, or reddish-brown, with the same white legs. 

 Hair short, line, and glossy, without tendency to turm a mane on any 

 part of the head or body. Hoofs narrow and pointed. Thirteen pairs 

 of ribs. 



The ridge on the back, which attains a much smaller development in 

 the banting than in the other two species, is due to the enormous elevation 

 of the neural spines ^ of the dorsal vertebra', the summits ot which torm a 

 nearly horizontal line from the third to the eleventh of the series, and then 



^ Sec note on p. 8. 



