234 Sheep 



In the true goats this bone is oblong in shape, with a pair of tubercles 

 at the posterior and anterior extremities ; of these, the posterior pair are 

 considerably the larger and more prominent, but both are situated in the 

 same antero- posterior line. In the true sheep, on tlie other hand, the 

 basioccipital is always considerably wider in iront than behind, while the 

 anterior tubercles are much larger than the posterior pair and are placed 

 further apart. The basioccipital of the bharal agrees exactly with that 

 of the goats, and is consequently widely different from this part in 

 the sheep. 



In the structure ot its horns the bharal again presents caprine affinities. 

 In the true sheep the horns are always thrown into parallel transyerse 

 wrinkles extending completely roinid them ; the colour ot the horns is 

 light or greenish -brown, and the direction ot the extremity tit the first 

 curye is downwards and forwards. In the goats, on the other hand, the 

 horns are neyer throvyn into coarse and parallel transyerse wrinkles, but 

 are marked by finer stria-, and may or may not carry knobs anteriorly. 

 Their colour is olive- or blackish-brown ; they are generally more or less 

 angulated, and the extremity ot the first curye is directed backwards and 

 upwards. In the bharal the structure and colour of the horns are the 

 same as in the goats. It is true their angulation is less marked and their 

 direction is more outward than in ordinary goats, but in both respects they 

 are paralleled by the horns of the East Caucasian tur. Indeed, the re- 

 semblance between the horns of these t\yo animals is so striking, that the 

 one last-named is trequently spoken ot by sportsmen as the Caucasian 

 bharal. It may be added that the upward twist of the extremities of the 

 horns ot the bharal presents an approximation to the spiral horns of the 

 markhor, and is quite different from the curve of an ordinary sheep's horn. 

 As already mentioned, the Asiatic mutlon makes the nearest approach of 

 any member ot the caprovine group to the bharal in the curvature of 

 its horns. 



