YAK 437 
Skull and Horns of Wild Yak. From a specimen in the British Museum, 
presented by Mr. A. O. Hume. 
The YAK (Bos [Poéphagus] grunniens). 
The plateau of Tibet is remarkable for the number of its peculiar 
mammals, among which is the yak. Apparently its nearest relatives 
are the bisons, but the yak has not the great elevation of the withers 
in comparison with the hind-quarters so distinctive of the latter, and 
the long hair forms a fringe on each side of the flanks, shoulders, and 
thighs, as well as a tuft on the chest, while the tail is clothed with a 
huge mass of similar-long hair, forming, when cut off and mounted, the 
well-known “chowries.” Yak-horns are much larger than those of 
living bison, and have a totally different curvature; while there are 
also important differences in the skull. Height at shoulder from about 
4 feet 10 inches to at least 5) feet; girth behind shoulder, 9 feet 14 
inches; length from between horns to base of tail, 8 feet 4 inch; 
