NORTH AMERICA AND THE WEST INDIES 329 



Family BOVIDAE: Sheep, Goats, Cattle 

 THE MUSKOXEN 



Much has been written on the relationships of the muskox to 

 other ruminants. Although many fossil skulls have been found 

 of this and related animals, there seems to be little evidence 

 that the type represented by the living species was derived 

 from the Old World. It is therefore believed that it must have 

 originated in the New World and in late geological times spread 

 into northern parts of the Old. While some zoologists have 

 thought it related to the sheep or the goat-antelopes, the latest 

 suggestions favor its close affinity to the bison. The single 

 living species is of high Arctic distribution from (until recently) 

 Alaska to Hudson Bay and the Arctic Archipelago, and thence 

 across northern Greenland to the eastern coast of that country. 

 Over this area it becomes differentiated locally into three 

 generally recognized races, for a full account of which the 

 reader is referred to the extensive papers of J. A. Allen (1913) 

 and Elisabeth Hone (1934). 



BARREN-GROUND MUSKOX 

 OVIBOS MOSCHATUS MOSCHATUS (Zimmermann) 



Bos moschatus Zimmermann, Geographische Geschichte, vol. 2, p. 86, 1780 (based on 

 Pennant's description; type locality "therefore the region adjoining Hudson Bay 

 between the Seal and Churchill rivers (about latitude 59) ", Keewatin (J. A. 

 Allen, 1913)). 



SYNONYM: Ovibos moschatus mackenzianus Kowarzik, Fauna Arctica, vol. 5, pt. 1, pp. 

 97, 116-122, 1910. 



FIGS.: Allen, J. A., 1913, figs. 28, 30, 32, 39 (exterior and skull). 



The typical race of the muskox is "very dark, nearly black 

 on the head, neck, sides, and underparts, with the feet and 

 nose white; the back is lighter (browner black), with a still 

 lighter "saddle" behind the shoulders. There is no white 

 area on the head in adult males, although individual white 

 hairs may often be found on the face; in young animals and 

 females there is sometimes quite a trace of white on the front 

 of the head" (J. A. Allen, 1913). The long hair of the body 

 forms a protecting fringe on the sides. The horns are charac- 

 teristically dark brown and are very broad at the base in pro- 

 portion to their length. They sweep downward and slightly 

 forward, then turn upward to form a hook; the record length 



