972 



TROF. A. CABRERA ON 



invariably flatter and broader than in any one of the other sub- 

 species, the difl[erence being chiefly due to the great Avidth, in the 

 former, of the flat upper surface of tlie inner keel, between its 

 edge and the round part of the horn. The horn sections 

 of C. p. jyyrencdca and C. p. hispanica, although much alike 

 in their more rounded and narrow contour, also differ in form. 

 In true pyrenaica the portion of the upper or front face imme- 

 diately above the keel is mai-kedly hollow, whereas in hispanica 



Text-fig. 198. 



Cross-sections of left horns of the Pyrenean Ibex (X s). 



A. Mainz Museum. Type. 



B. Toulouse Museum. 



it is slightly convex, the MediteiTanean Ibex approaching 

 in this the Gredos subspecies. Of course, these differences can 

 be appreciated only in adult males, as the horns of the young in 

 all the races have a somewhat rounded section with a short pro- 

 jecting tip corresponding to the inner keel. Every specimen 

 I have compared has horns with at least six annulations *. 



As to the curvature and direction, the horns are absolutely alike 



* The popular belief that each knot or annulation on the horns means a year in 

 the age of an Ibex is no more true than the one assigning the same value to the 

 tines of deer; but, since the number of knots depends on the horn growing, it 

 becomes evident that many annulations, like many tines in deer horns, always indicate 

 an old animal. 



