SKULLS OF OXEN FROM XBWSTEAD. 



2()f> 



parietal), which forms the middle portion of the intercornunl 

 ridge. Oscar Schmidt * states that in a. front view the ptirietals 

 " cannot be seen at all," bnt probably in all cases the parietals 

 in the Ox, as in the Bison (text-fig. 80), enter into the formation 

 of the forehead. The great specialization of the frontal region of 

 the skull in the true Oxen is made evident by the examination of 

 f(otal skulls. In a very young foetus tlie frontals (text-fig. (58, Fr.) 

 only form the fi'ont portion of the I'oof of the cranium ; but about 



Text-fio. 82. 



rrontlct and lioni-coros of a small Newstead Ox with a prominent forehead. 

 The horn-coreK curve upwards and backwards. 



the fifth month they ai'e relatively very much larger than the 

 parietals (text-fig. 69, Fr.), and at birth they form nearly the entire 

 roof of the cranium (text-fig. 70). After birth the frontals 

 continue to grow back\\ards, and they eventually form all but the 

 wedge-shaped middle portion of the intercornual ridge. In the 

 Urus the frontals sometimes project 100 mm. (4 indies) beyond 

 the occipital condjdes (text-fig. 79), but in the Aberdeen-Angus 

 the occiput almost forms a right angle with the frontals, and the 



* 'The Mammalia,' p. 170. 



