CHAPTER XIV 



UNGULATA (continued), 

 ARTIODACTYLA : THE BOVINES 



Family: BOVIDyE. THE HOLLOW-HORNED RUMINANTS 



It will hardly be necessary to describe the main features of this 

 family, since they have been already given in a general review 

 of the Pecora. They are divided at the present day into six 

 sub-families : the Tragelaphs, or Spiral-horned Bovids ; the 

 Antelopes, or Ring-horned Bovids ; the Capricorns, or Mountain 

 Antelopes ; the Ovi-bovines (represented at the present day only 

 by the Musk Ox) ; the True Oxen ; and the Sheep and Goats. 

 All the members of this family are very closely inter-related, 

 and their classification is a matter of some difficulty. Nearly 

 each group has in equal measure preserved primitive features in 

 some directions, and has attained great specialisation in others. 

 On the whole, it may be said that the antelopes proper (those 

 with annulated horns), the sheep and goats, and capricorns (which 

 also share this feature of the annulated growth of the horn) are 

 specially related each to the other. The Tragelaphs in some 

 ways are the most primitive of the sub-families, and their nearest 

 relations are with the oxen. The oxen stand somewhat apart, 

 and the musk ox has some affinities with the Bovine group ; 

 but, on the other hand, is perhaps most nearly related to the 

 Capricorns. 



So far as we know, the Tragelaphine sub-family (elands, 

 kudus, bushbucks) never extended its range to England, though 



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