258 BULLETIN NO. VII. 
In Egypt in ancient times three varieties were domesticated 
which must certainly have been imported. Sheep and goats 
seem to have sprung from some forms of antelope—indeed the 
musk ox may be said to be a transition between goats, ante- 
lopes and the oxen. None of these are endemic in America 
but we now have one representative of each in the Rocky 
mountain goat, big-horn sheep, prong-horn antelope, and musk 
ox. The bison seems to have been individualized in America 
in the Pliocene and in Europe a form appeared in the Quarter- 
nary which forms the direct transition to the present Huropean 
bison. 
The camels are of American origin. The genus Parameryx 
appeared in Hocene and the peculiarities became more marked 
in later forms. The llama once ranged over most of North 
America. The camel appeared in Asia in the Miocene and 
seems to have been introduced into Africa at a very early day. 
The primary sub-divisions of Artiodactyla are two:—Poly- 
dactyla, including the hippopotami and the swine and, the Bi- 
dactyla or Ruminantia (cud-chewers. ) 
The first of these groups has, as we have seen, no repres- 
entatives within our limits and the number of ruminants is very 
small. At present four species of the family Cervide are the 
only members of the vast group of ungulates found in Minne- 
sota. 
Famity BOViD~. 
GENUS BISON, SMITH. 
The two living species of this genus are, strangely enough, 
found one in America the other in Europe and Western Asia. 
The European species seems at present to exist only in the 
great forests of Lithuania and in the inaccessible regions of 
the Caucasus. Our own species is now limited to an almost 
equally limited area and without the official protection afforded 
the European species will soon become extinct. 
Externally the bisons are distinquished by the great develop- 
ment of the anterior extremities, especially the ‘‘hump” over 
the shoulders, the relatively light posterior part of the body, 
broad, convex forehead, short conical horns with a decided 
upward curvature, and the shaggy coat and heavy mane. The 
nearest relative is found in the yak—Bos (Poephagus) grun- 
- niens. The gaur and gayal—B. gaurus and B. frontalis are also 
nearer than members of the restricted genus Bos. 
