THE OXEN, SHEEP, AND GOAT FAMILY 



(BovidcE) 



NE of the most important families of the entire animal kingdon is the Bovidcc. 

 Its economic value to man, in both its wild and domesticated states, is incal- 

 culable. There are some fifty leading species, such as Bison, Buffalo, Mountain 

 Sheep, Goats, Musk-ox and Ibex, found in every continent except Australia 

 and South America. In our own country we have some of the finest speci- 

 mens of the family, although the numbers have sadly dwindled before the 

 relentless war of extermination which has been waged. The Bison, or Buffalo, 

 is a striking example of this. A few decades ago it roamed the western plains 

 in countless thousands. By the end of the century only heroic efforts on the 

 part of the Government and the establishment of a few private parks saved 

 it from perishing entirely. 

 The Hollow-horned Ruminants, or Bovidae, are distinguished from their allies by the 

 presence of true horns; that is to say, of hollow and unbranched sheaths of horn growing 

 upon bony protuberances, or cores, arising from the frontal bones of the skull, neither horny 

 sheaths nor the bony cores being shed at any period of existence. In all existing wild species 

 these horns are present at least in the male sex; but in many domesticated races of cattle, 

 sheep, and goats, they are absent in both sexes; and the same holds good for certain extinct 

 members of the family. Usually the molar teeth of the Hollow-horned Ruminants are 

 characterised by the great relative height of their crowns, and in all cases there is no tusk 

 or canine tooth in the upper jaw. In some few instances the small lateral toes may be com- 

 pletely absent, but they are generally represented merely by the small spurious hooflets 

 alone, which may be supported internally by minute and irregularly-shaped nodules of 

 bone. The Hollow-horned Ruminants are chiefly Old World forms, although they are repre- 

 sented in North America by the Musk-ox, the American Bison, the Rocky Mountain Goat, 

 and the Bighorn Sheep. They are unknown in South America. 



AMERICAN BISON, OR BUFFALO 

 Bison bison (Linnaeus) ■ 



General Description. — A large wild o.x. horned in 

 both se.xes. The horns are curved and cylindrical, 

 and grow annually but are never shed. Two main 

 hoofs, two accessory hoofs, on each foot. Stomach 

 complex ; chews cud. Spines of dorsal vertebrae very 

 high producing great hump. Tail short, covered with 

 short hair, but tuft of long hair on end. Hair long and 

 woolly especially on head and fore parts. Thick beard 

 present. Color dark brown. Horns, hoofs and muzzle 

 black. 



Dental Formula. — Incisors, °:^ ■ i^--- — 



4—4 

 3—3 . lvf„1_,.. i^-i 



Canines, ^^^' ; Pre- 



— 



molars, ~^ ; Molars, 



=32. 



Pelage. — Adults : Se.xes much the same, with cow 

 a trifle darker in body color. Head, neck, chest, and 

 shoulders blackish-brown to black. Elsewhere pale, 

 grading to cinnamon on rump. Hair long and shaggy ; 

 an undercoat of finer wool-like hair. A long beard 

 upon the chin, and thick tufts of longer hair upon 

 crown, about base of horns and down forelimbs about 



to accessory hoofs. Hair much shorter on area begin- 

 ning just back of fore limbs and taking in hind 

 quarters. Young: At birth, dull reddish-yellow, paler 

 on under parts. At six months, assumes more the 

 adult appearance; by end of second year, everywhere 

 deep glossy blackish-brown. Pales with age. 



Measurements. — Length, male, lo to ii feet: height 

 at shoulder, 5 to 6 feet; length of tail, 15 inches. Horns 

 20 inches long by 15 inches girth at base. Weight 1800 

 to 2100 pounds. Female, height at shoulder 4' j to 5 

 feet; weight 700 to 1200 pounds. 



Range. — Historic range from Great Lakes to the 

 Rockies, and from Northern Mexico to 60° latitude. By 

 1870 restricted to a strip north and south along Great 

 Plains and eastern Rockies ; by 1880 found only in 

 area formed by North Dakota. Montana and Wyoming 

 with a few in Te.xas and in Canada. Now extinct in 

 the wild state, and known only from zoological herds 

 and animals on reservations. 



Food. — Grasses of the plains. 



[39I 



