OXEN, SHEEP, AND GOAT FAMILY 



45 



General Description. — A somewhat small wild ox 

 standing about 50 inches at withers. Both sexes horned, 

 horns of male, however, much the larger. Horns never 

 shed, rough and grooved at base, bending abruptly 

 downward from occiput where they nearly meet in 

 midline, tip curving upward and forward but not pass- 

 ing above level of eye. Horns blackish at tip. Neck 

 short. Muzzle hairy, with small triangular naked space 

 between nostrils. No facial glands. Tail rudimentary. 

 Hoofs broad, asymmetrical, with large lateral hoofs. 

 Pelage long, shaggy. Color dark brown, except for sad- 

 dle-shaped patch of yellowish on mid-back. Hair very 

 long and moderately soft. A dense woolly undercoat of 

 soft hair. 



Dental Formula. — Incisors, '!—!.■ Canines, °^; Pre- 



4—4 c— o 



molars, — — ; Molars, -—^32. 



Pelage. — Adults : No marked seasonal change 

 except that the shed underfur in summer gives animal 

 patchy appearance. Sexes alike. Everywhere dark 

 brown with head, neck and sides of body tending to 

 blackish in adult males. A saddle-shaped patch of 

 yellowish-white over lumbar region. Feet whitish. 

 Young ; Very much as adults. 



Measurements. — Length, male, 6 to G'/i feet ; height 

 at shoulder, 4 to 4^2 feet. Horns, along outer curve 

 22 to 30 inches; width at base, 9 to 12 inches; tip to 



MUSK-OX 

 Ovibos moschatus (Zimm.) 



tip, 15 to 25 inches. Weight, 400 pounds. Female, 

 slightly smaller throughout ; horns decidedly smaller, 

 not so wide or ridged at base. 



Range. — Arctic America from Mackenzie River and 

 north of 60th parallel, south to Melville Bay. 



Food. — Grasses, moss and lichens. 



Remarks. — A sturdy wild ox well adapted to Arctic 

 life by the possession of a dense coat of long hair, 

 wide hoofs to bear it upon snow, and a faculty of 

 subsisting on a scanty diet of moss and lichens when 

 everything is covered by snow. 



Related Species 



Common Musk-Ox. — Ovibos moschatus moschatus 

 ( Zimmermann). The typical form. Arctic America 

 from west side Hudson Bay to Banks Land. 



Melville Island Musk-Ox. — Oznbos moschatus mel- 

 I'illcnsis Kowarzik. Melville Island. 



Hudson Bay Musk-Ox. — Ovibos moschatus niphoe- 

 cus Elliot. FMacker in color, horns lighter, little 

 white on head. Region to the northwest of Hudson 

 Bay. 



Ward's Musk-Ox, or White-faced Musk-Ox. — 

 Ovibos moschatus ivardi Lydekker. White space 

 between horns and on face, also generally whitish on 

 sides of head. More white on feet. General color 

 lighter. Eastern Greenland. 



Photograph from the American Museum of Natural History 



MUSK-OX 



Living in the snow-clad wastes of the Arctic Circle, it is hard to see how this animal maintains life, where 



the vegetation is scanty and hidden 



