Ancient Short-horned Ox (Bos longifrons). 163 
smaller animal, being nearly.equal in size to the least of 
those formerly described. The measurements here are :— 
Breadth across the forehead between the horn-cores, 5} 
inches. The horn-cores are nearly 33 inches in length, 
following the outer curvature ; and their circumference at 
the base is 4 inches. In this individual also the prominence 
of the upper part of the forehead, and of the occipital ridge, 
is very distinct. These specimens are interesting, as shew- 
Ing somewhat of the range in the size and shape of this 
animal. We may suppose the smaller to be a cow, and the 
larger one a bull. But in all the varieties of size there is 
a constant general resemblance in character. Professor 
_ Nilsson has described as a distinct species of ox, a variety 
principally distinguished from the Bos longifrons, by having 
longer pedicles to the horns, the forehead more rounded in 
front, and the ridge of the occiput rising high in the centre, 
which he has called the Bos frontosus ; but you will observe 
that in the crania on the table, there is a very consider- 
able variety both in the prominence of the forehead and the 
outline of the occipital ridge. In a letter with which I have 
been favoured by Professor Owen, he kindly informs me that 
two of the specimens previously exhibited are the most 
perfect crania of this ox which he has yet seen. And he 
considers that they tend to strengthen his opinion of the Bos 
longifrons being a distinct species of fossil ox ; all the varie- 
ties which it presents in the different specimens he has 
examined, being within the limits of an admitted range ; 
_ while he believes the Bos frontosus of Nilsson to be merely © 
_ a variety of the Bos longifrons. This is the most ancient of 
_ the small sized cattle, being found in the drifts and fresh 
_ water deposits of the newer Pliocene formation, along with 
remains of the huge animals of that time, the elephant and 
the rhinoceros; and downwards through the deposits of the 
alluvium to the period of man, as the specimens on the table 
show, shortly after which it becomes lost as a species,—pro- 
bably remaining in some of the domestic cattle as its later pos- 
terity ; and as a small additional evidence on this point, I 
- may mention, that in one of the skulls previously described,* 
* Vide Plate ii., vol. liv. of Jameson’s Journal. 
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