Ovis darwini 203 



Description. — The translation of Severtzoff's original description is as 

 follows: — "The horns are not massive; the fronto- nuchal edge is very 

 sharp, the other two edges are also not much rounded ; the frontal surface 

 is narrow, but prominent ; the other two surfaces pressed in, rendering the 

 edges sharp, especially the fronto-nuchal edge. A section ot the base of the 

 horn shows the orbital and nuchal surfaces to be nearly equal in width, 

 each of them being about i^ times as wide as the frontal surface. . . . 

 The ridges of the horn are sharp, straight, and regularly parallel with each 

 other. . . . This species is, like Ovis heiiisi, only known from skulls ; 

 amongst these is one of an adult male. Through a telescope I saw that 

 the colour of the animal is a light grayish-brown, with a white belly and 

 rump. It is considerably smaller than Ovis karcliiii, being one ot the 

 smallest and weakest of all the Central Asiatic sheep." The length of 

 the horns in the type skull is given as 38 inches. 



Bearing in mind the known variability in the horns of these large sheep, 

 the above description does not appear sufficient to define this torm, and 

 there are no specimens in the British Museum from the typical locality. 

 Mr. W. L. Sclater is, however, probably right in his suggestion that 0. 

 nigrimontana conforms to the ammoii type, of which it may constitute a 

 small race, its distributional area being on the western border ot that o\ the 

 latter species. If it be true that this sheep has a white caudal disk and 

 under-parts, it seems, as already mentioned, unlikely that it can be the same 

 animal as Littledale's sheep. 



Distribution. — The Karatau, or Black Mountains, lying to the south- 

 west of Kulja on the Mongolian frontier. 



Ovis darwini 



Ovis darwini^ Prezewalski, Cat. Zool. Coll. p. 15 (1887). 

 The brief description of this sheep being in Russian, I can say nothing 

 either as to its characteristics or its habitat. 



