EUROPEAN BISON 



411 



'Skull_~and Horns of Bull and Cow Bison, shot by Mr. St. George Littledale. 



EUROPEAN BISON (Bos bonasus). 



The great elevation of the fore-quarters, the mass of long hair 

 clothing the head, shoulders, and fore-part of the body, together with 

 the peculiar form of the head and horns, the latter of which are 

 cylindrical, serve at once to distinguish the bison from the other 

 members of the ox tribe. There is also a difference in the number of 

 ribs between the bison and the more typical oxen, the number in the 

 former varying from 14 to 15 pairs. In the European species the 

 mass of hair on the fore-quarters is not so long as in its American 

 cousin, the form of the skull is different, and the hind-quarters do not 

 fall away nearly to the same extent. Some difference may be noted 

 between Caucasian and Lithuanian specimens, but it is doubtful whether 

 these are sufficient to indicate a racial distinction. Height at shoulder 

 6 feet i or 2 inches. In a bull killed by Mr. St. George Littledale, the 

 length from the nose to the root of the tail measured i o feet I inch, the 

 height at the shoulder 5 feet i i inches, and the approximate girth 

 of the body 8 feet 4 inches. 



Distribution. At the present day restricted to the Caucasus and the 

 forest of Bielowitzka in Lithuania ; the herds in the latter district 

 existing in a protected state. The name aurochs, so commonly 

 applied to the bison, belongs to the extinct wild ox of Europe. 



