. Wild oxen, sheep & goats of all lands, living and extinct . d by Dr. Biichner, who has written to me that, in his opinion,there are but two species of Caucasian tur, namely, C cylindricornis trom theeastern, and C caucasica from the western half ot the range. Mr. St. George Littledale has, however, in his possession a skull withhorns of a very remarkable type obtained by himself from the neighbourhoodof Elbruz, which at first sight might seem to suggest a third belonging to an adult male, the horns are considerably shorterthan those of the typical C. caucasica ; and in their cu
. Wild oxen, sheep & goats of all lands, living and extinct . d by Dr. Biichner, who has written to me that, in his opinion,there are but two species of Caucasian tur, namely, C cylindricornis trom theeastern, and C caucasica from the western half ot the range. Mr. St. George Littledale has, however, in his possession a skull withhorns of a very remarkable type obtained by himself from the neighbourhoodof Elbruz, which at first sight might seem to suggest a third belonging to an adult male, the horns are considerably shorterthan those of the typical C. caucasica ; and in their curvature and thedirection of their tips, as well as in the total absence ot knots trom the 252 Goats anterior surface, are in some respects intermediate between the former andthose of C. cylindricornh. It was suggested to their present owner by thenatives of the district that they indicated a hybrid between the two well-estabHshed species ; and I am at present unable to suggest any moreprobable explanation ot the ditiiculty. That analogous hybrids do now and. Fig. \%.—Head ot male West Caucasian Tur. (From Prince DemidotJsHunting Trips in the Cuiiciisus). again occur naturally is proved by the well-known case of Ovis brookci inZanskar. The circumstance that these peculiar horns are in some degree inter-mediate between those of C. cylimlricornis and the typical citucasica, togetherwith the fact that they come from the same locality, suggests that theybelong to the same kind of animal as the one to which the latter name isrestricted by Dr. Menzbier. It is true that Dr. Menzbier speaks of knotson the front of his specimens, which are wanting in Mr. Littledales Wild Oxen,5heep,&cGoats Plate XXII.
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectgameandgamebirds
