ti5S External C/iaracters of Ruminant AvtloJactijla. 



the Asiatic forms and Syncerus for tlie African. In this 

 matter he was perfectly correct, if Anoa l)c left out of cou- 

 siileration. But if, as seems to be the case, dcpressicornish 

 not genericaily, or even suhgcnerically, distinijuishabU; from 

 hubaliSj the name Anua must supersede Bubalus for the 

 Asiatic l)utfah)es by virtue of pajje priority. 



In view of the (listiiiguisiiing cranial characters between 

 the African and Asiatic bufEuloes jiointed out by tlie above- 

 quoted authors, it seems impossible to esca|)e from the 

 conclusion tliat tiie two groups deserve g(MU'ric separation. 

 From lack of material for examination I am unable to add 

 any new external features to those that have been already 

 })ni)lished. HoUister's statement, however, that the ears of 

 African buffaloes (Si/ncerus) are distinguished from those 

 of Asiatic buffaloes [Anoa) by being heavily fringed is not 

 always true. The ears, nevertheless, as I pointed out in 

 1912 (' Field,' Aug., p. 39o), are very different in shape, 

 those of the Asiatic buffaloes being narrower and much 

 more pointed than of their African allies. 



Setting aside the characters derived from the shape of the 

 liead, the horns, the height of the withers, the length and 

 bushiness of the tail, the distribution of hair on the body, 

 and others that have been made use of by previous workers 

 who have adopted subgeneric or generic titles for the Bovine 

 groups, the incidence of the external features to which 

 attention has been particularly directed in this paper to 

 support the generic recognition of these groups may be 

 briefly summarized as follows : — 



(1) a. Rhiuariuin rednceJ iiiferiorly by the en- 

 croaclnnent of llie hair of the lower half 

 of tlie upper lip to form a distinct pliil- 

 trum which is narrower than the inter- 

 narial septum ; its upper surface over- 

 grown with short hair up to the anterior 

 margin, leaving a narrow naked rim above 



the nostrils Poephagws. 



b. Khinarium very wide inferiorly above the 

 edge of the upper lij), wider than the inter- 

 Darial septum, and forming no distinct 

 philtrum; the hairs of the muzzle spread- 

 ing inwards beneath the nostrils and 

 entering the inner angles of those orifices, 

 reducing the width of the rhinarium at 

 this level ; its upper surface covered with 

 hair almost to the anterior edge, so that 

 only a narrow naked rim borders the 

 nostrils above Bison. 



