CRANIA or RUMINANTS PROM THE INDIAN TERTIARIES. 33—120 
The cranium is at once noticeable on account of the extreme breadth and flat- 
ness of the nasal bones, which are as much as three and a half inches in width at 
their distal extremity ; this width is three-quarters of an inch greater than the widtli 
of the nasals in Bubalus arni, in which the nasals are wider than in any other 
described Bovine, either recent or fossil. The nasals, moreover, extend very low 
down, reaching to within two and a half inches of the free extremity of the maxillae ; 
in no living species of oxen is the interval between the nasals and the maxillae so 
small ; the general form of the nasals is the same as in the Arni, their width at the 
infra-orbital angle being less than at their distal extremity. 
The premaxillae are long and extend upwards to articulate with the nasals as in 
Bubalus and typical species of Bos — a character which at once distinguishes the 
species from Bos namadicus ; a very prominent ridge connects the apex of the nasals 
and the inferior angle of the orbit ; the planes of the frontals and of the lachrymal 
are nearly at right angles to each other, being divided by tliis ridge. A somewhat 
similar ridge occurs in the crania of Bos and Bibos, although not developed to such 
an extent ; the presence of this ridge serves to distinguish the species from Bubalus, 
to which genus the broad nasals approximate it. In the skull of the latter genus 
there is a deep and uninterrupted channel leading gradually down from the forehead 
to the sides of the face between the orbits and nasals, and no ridge or angularity. 
The skull is further separated from that of Bubalus by the free posterior edge of the 
palatines being entire, and unbroken by the intrusion of the vomer, as well as by 
the shortness of the face below the orbits. 
The skull differs from all recent forms in the excessive vertical height from 
the crowns of the molars to the surface of the frontals ; from the crown of the first 
molar to the anterior border of the orbit the vertical height is upwards of nine inches. 
In the skulls of the Gayal, the Gaur, and Bos namadicus, the corresponding measure- 
ment is about six inches ; and in the Arni seven and a half inches. The lower 
borders of the orbits are not depressed below the level of the plane of the frontals, 
as in Bubalus, but are nearly continuous with this, as in Bos namadicus. 
The skull is distinguished from the skulls of Bibos gaurus and B. frontalis by 
the large premaxillse, and by the great size of the nasals. 
The apex of the nasals does not reach to within half an inch of the lower border 
of the orbit ; in Bubalus the nasals reach to the centre of the orbit. The palate is 
produced posteriorly but a short distance behind the last molars, and is undivided, 
as in Bos. The inner border of the molar series is but slightly curved : the molars 
have a large median accessory column on the inner side, which is but slightly con- 
stricted at its junction with the main dentine mass of the crown ; the enamel of 
the second enamel island is deeply infolded from the posterior side, as in Bubalus. 
The measurements of this specimen are given below : — 
Width at lower border of orbit ....... 7 8-3 
„ of nasals, at widest part , , . . . . 3‘5 
Length of „ » • • • • • ■ • . 7'8 
