114 External Characters of Ruminant Artiodactyla. 
discussed in this section, is to show that the diversity of inter- 
pretation of which they are susceptible weakens the force of 
the contention that European breeds of cattle are of dual 
specific origin. 
V. CONCLUSIONS. 
1. Indian humped cattle (Bos indicus) are not descended 
from the banteng (Bibos banteng), but from some 
species of Bos, to which genus, or subgenus, they 
belong. 
2. They intergrade in almost all characters with Bos 
taurus. Such differences as typical representatives of 
the two breeds exhibit are quite compatible with tlhe 
view of their descent from a common ancestor, probably 
the aurochs (B. primigenius) ; but zebus may be the 
descendants of a form of Bos differing subspecifically, 
perhaps specifically, from B. priémigenius, but closely 
related thereto. Nevertheless, if that be so, the ex- 
treme differences between B. taurus and B. indicus 
are not traceable to original ancestral differences, but 
are the product of long-enduring domestication, under 
widely distinct physical conditions, coupled with 
selective breeding along divergent lines guided by 
different tastes and needs*. 
8. Theclaim that some European cattle have an admixture, 
small or great, of zebu blood, due to the human intro- 
duction of that stock into Southern Europe is not 
established by the facts adduced in its support. It 
may, however, be true. On the other hand, the alleged 
zebu characters of such cattle may be explained, if the 
allegation be sound, by their representing stages in the 
evolution of the zebu type from Bos primigentus. 
= * Although the conclusion that B. tawrus and B. indicus had a common 
ancestor or are possibly the descendants of two closely allied forms of 
Bos hag been reached by the analysis of a different class of facts, it seems 
to coincide with that of several modern students of the group. Prof. 
Ewart, for example (P. Z.S. 1911, pt. ii. p. 281, footnote), thinks it 
probable that the long-browed short-horned zebus are probably repre- 
sentatives of the small domesticated ox of Anau, the so-called Celtic 
shorthorn, itself of aurochs descent. Perhaps the settlement of the 
disputed relationship between Bos namadicus, the so-called Asiatic 
aurochs, and Bos primigentus, the European aurochs, which was appa- 
rently also of Asiatic origin, may supply an answer to the still doubtful 
question as to whether the domesticated cattle discussed in this paper 
trace their descent from two distinct species of Bos or from two local 
races of a single species. 
