NINTH ANNUAL REPORT. 9 



In western Europe we find first the chamois (Rupicapra) , 

 known in the Spanish Sierras and Pyrenees as the izard, and ex- 

 tending eastward through the Alps and Carpathians as far as the 

 Caucasus. Throughout all this range only one species is recog- 

 nized. 



The next genus of this group is the goral (Cemas), with four 

 species ranging throughout the Himalayas and parts of China, 

 into Amurland. 



In Tibet we have the third and decidedly most aberrant mem- 

 ber of the Riipicaprlna:, the takin (Budorcas), the horns of which 

 suggest those of the gnu. Only one species of this genus is 

 known. 



The fourth, and to Americans perhaps the most interesting 

 Old World member of this Subfamily, is the serow (Namo- 

 rhedus), locally known as the forest goat. This genus is per- 

 haps, more closely allied to Oreamnos than any of the preceding 

 genera, and its horns resemble those of the mountain goat, but 

 are shorter and thicker. The genus Nccmorhedus inhabits the 

 Himalayas, Tibet and China with outlying representatives in 

 Burma, Sumatra, Formosa and Japan and it is divided into 

 numerous species. The fifth genus is Oreamnos, the subject of 

 this article. 



All the members of these genera resemble the goat in tooth 

 structure, but differ widely from them in the position and shape 

 of the horns, face glands and other important details. The 

 whole group is to be regarded as an early off-shoot of the 

 Bovida, to some extent intermediate between the goats and the 

 true bovine antelopes. The Rupicaprince must have pushed 

 north, with their not distant ally the musk-ox, at a very early 

 time and become adjusted to alpine and boreal conditions. At 

 the close of the glacial period many of its members deserted 

 the low country and retired to high altitudes so that in some 

 instances, notably that of the chamois, we have an example of 

 discontinuous distribution. Its sole American representative 

 probably reached this continent by way of the Bering Sea land 

 connection, during the middle Pleistocene, together with the 

 other American genera of the Boznda. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



Oreamnos as remarked above, while more closely related to 

 Namorhedus than to the other members of the group, has de- 

 parted widely in structure from all of its relatives. Its most 



