EUROPEAN BISON OR ZUBR 



403 



Skull and Horns of Bull and Cow Bison, shot by St, George Littledale. 



EUROPEAN BISON or ZUBR (Bos bonasus). 



The great elevation of the fore-quarters, the mass of long hair 

 clothing the head, shoulders, and fore-part of the body, together with 

 the peculiar form of the head and horns, the latter of which are 

 cyhndrical, serve at once to distinguish the bison from the other 

 members of the ox tribe. There is also a difference in the number of 

 ribs between the bison and the more typical oxen, the number in the 

 former varying from 14 to 15 pairs. In the European species the 

 mass of hair on the fore-quarters is not so long as in its American 

 cousin, the form of the skull is different, and there are marked points 

 of difference in the general appearance which render it easy to dis- 

 tinguish between the two species. Some difference may be noted 

 between Caucasian and Lithuanian specimens, but it is doubtful whether 

 these are sufficient to indicate a racial distinction. Height at shoulder 

 6 feet I or 2 inches. In a bull killed by Mr. St. George Littledale, the 

 length from the nose to the root of the tail measured i o feet i inch, the 

 height at the shoulder 5 feet 1 1 inches, and the approximate girth 

 of the body 8 feet 4 inches. 



Distribution. — At the present day restricted to the Caucasus and the 

 forest of Bielowitzka in Lithuania ; the herds in the latter district 

 existing in a protected state. The name aurochs, so commonly 

 applied to the bison, properly belongs to the extinct wild ox of 

 Europe. 



