368 



UNGULATA. 



of Europe we meet with the geuus Bos ; and the American 

 Buffalo is represented as early as the Lower Pliocene by a 

 species of Bison. The best known fossil Oxen, however, are 

 those of the Post-Pliocene and Eecent periods ; and of these 

 the most important are the thus, the Aurochs, the Bos 

 longifrons of Owen, and the Musk-ox (Ovibos). 



The Aurochs or Lithuanian Bison (Bos hiso7i) can hardly 

 be considered as a fossil form, as it occurs in a living state 

 in Europe at the present day. Remains, however, of this 

 large ox are found in various prehistoric deposits. 



The Bos longifrons of Owen, or " Small Short-horn," is in 

 a similar position to the Aurochs. According to Professor 

 Boyd-Dawkins, this form (which is identical with the Bos 

 frontosus of Nilsson) has not been proved to occur in any 

 Post-Pliocene deposit, though it occurs plentifully in the 

 bone-caves and alluvia of the Ptecent or prehistoric period. 

 It is believed by the same high authority that the Bos longi- 

 frons is the ancestor of our present Welsh and Scotch Cattle. 



The Urus or Wild Bull {Bos priniigenius), though much 

 larger than our ordinary oxen, is believed to be specifically 



Fig. 655.— Skull of tlie Urus (Bos iiriiniycn'ms). Post-Plioceue and Recent. (After Owen ) 



undistinguishable from the domestic Ox {Bos taurus), and it 

 was probably the parent of the larger varieties of European 

 Oxen. It was a contemporary of the Mammoth, Woolly 

 Ehinoceros, Cave - lion, Cave - bear, Irish Elk, and other 



