774 THE UNGULATES, OR HOOFED MAMMALS 



clothed, and which makes the general appearance of the animal so very different 

 from that of other oxen. On the head and upper parts of the body the hair is short 

 and nearly smooth, and the long hair only commences on the lower part of the sides 

 where it forms a fringe of great depth, extending forward across the shoulders and 

 backward on to the thighs. On the tail the long hair is developed on the lower 

 half, where it expands into an enormous tuft which does not generally reach below 

 the hocks. There is also a tuft of long hair on the breast. The color of the hair is 

 a uniform dark blackish brown, sometimes tending to a rusty tint on the flanks and 

 back, and with a gray grizzle on the upper part of the head and neck in very old in- 

 dividuals. Around the muzzle there is a little white. We frequently find the yak 

 represented as a brown and white, or even a pure white animal, but all such speci- 

 mens are domesticated, and mostly hybrid individuals. 



In build the yak is massively formed, with short and stout legs. The shoulders 

 are high, but there is not the distinct ridge on the back characteristic of the gaur, 

 and the whole back is nearly straight throughout, without any falling away at the 

 hips. Both the ears and the muzzle are small; and the dewlap is totally wanting. 

 The head is long and narrow, with a nearly flat forehead, and the eyes are approxi- 

 mated to the horns. The horns, which are very large in the bull, are smooth, and 

 nearly or quite cylindrical, with the first curvature of their upper border concave, as 

 in the gaur and banteng. They curve at first upward and outward, then sweep 

 boldly forward, after which they incline upward and inward, and in some cases 

 slightly backward. The hoofs are relatively large and rounded. In height, it is stated 

 that old bulls occasionally stand nearly six feet at the shoulder; but five feet six 

 inches may be taken as the average. The weight of bulls is said to be about i , 200 

 pounds. Average-sized horns vary in length from twenty-five to thirty inches, 

 measured along the curve; but a pair has been recorded measuring forty inches in 

 length, with a basal girth of nearly nineteen inches. The horns of the cows are al- 

 ways smaller and thinner than those of bulls. 



Such are the leading external characteristics of the yak; but there are also cer- 

 tain features connected with the skeleton which are worthy of notice. In the first 

 place, there are fourteen pairs of ribs, whereas, in all the other oxen hitherto no- 

 ticed, the number is but thirteen; and in this respect a yak resembles the bisons. 

 In the skull, the region between the eyes and the occiput is relatively shorter and 

 wider than in the typical oxen, and the horns are set on somewhat below the plane 

 of the extreme summit. In consequence of this, the front view of a yak's skull 

 exhibits a small prominence between the horns formed by a boss of bone at the top 

 of the occiput; the crest or summit of the occiput itself being invisible from the 

 front, and the shape of the whole occiput forming an inverted V. The difference in 

 the shape of the occiput from that obtaining in the true oxen may be seen by com- 

 paring the accompaning figure with that of the skull of the Galla ox given on p. 

 762. In regard to the position of the horns and some other features of the skull, 

 the yak approximates to the bison. 



Yak, as we have said, inhabit the plateau of Tibet, probably extend- 

 ing northward as far as the Kuen-L,uen range, while eastward they 

 range into the Chinese province of Kansu, and westward enter the eastern portions 



