im<» 



THK ANNALS 



AND 



MAGAZIiNE OF NATURAL lllSTOPtY. 



[NINTH SERIES.] 

 No. 12. DECEMBER 1018. 



XLIV. — On some External Churdcters of Riiiniiianl Artio- 

 dactvla. — Part VI. The Boviiiai. Bv It. 1. Pocock, 

 F.ll.'S. 



Subfamily Bovine. 



I retain this subfamih^ as a matter of convenience only, 

 being unacquainted with a single character of importance by 

 which it may be distinguished from the Tragelapliiuoe. On 

 the other hand, close affiliation between the two is attested 

 by a large number of common characters. Indeed, Atioa 

 depressicornis, the most primitive form of Bovinse, quite 

 commonly shows the typically Tragelaphine white spots and 

 patches on the face, throat, and feet, which must be regarded 

 as strong evidence of near affinity Avith the Tragelapliine 

 stock, as I pointed out in 1910. 



For close upon a century there has Ijcen great divergence 

 of opinion regarding the status of the groups into which the 

 species of the Bovinse naturally fall. In 1827 Hamilton 

 Smith split up the Linnsean genus Bos'iwio a inimber of sub- 

 genera — Bison, Bibos, etc. By Gray, who added Poephayus 

 to the series, these were granted generic rank. In this 

 opinion he was followed by Riitimeyer, and more recently by 

 Matschie. English authors, like Blanford, Flower, and 

 Lydekker, on the contrary, retained the genus Bos in a 

 comprehensive sense, giving subordinate rank to the others. 

 In PJlO I followed that course, being unable to find evidence 

 from the characters I was then working at for defining the 



Ann. (fc Ma(j. N. Hist. Scr. *J. Vul. ii. o3 



