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matter of genera and species. The Bovidae are divided into a number of sections, or sub-families, each of which is briefly noticed in the present See also:

ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article, while See also:

fuller mention of some of the more important representatives of these is made in other articles. The first See also:

section is that of the Bovinae, which includes buffaloes, bison and oxen. The See also:

MAJORITY (Fr. majorite; Med. Lat. majoritas; Lat. major, greater)

majority of these are large and heavily-built ruminants, with horns present in both sexes, the muzzle broad, moist and naked, the nostrils lateral, no See also:

FACE (from Lat. fades, derived either from facere, to make, or from a root fa-, meaning " appear "; cf. Gr. cbatvstv)

face-glands, and a large See also:

DEWLAP

dewlap often See also:

DEVELOPED

developed in the males; while the tail is See also:

long and generally tufted, although in one instance long-haired throughout.

The horns are of nearly equal size in both sexes, are placed on or near the vertex of the See also:

SKULL

skull, and may be either rounded or angulated, while their direction is more or less outwards, with an upward direction near the tips, and conspicuous knobs or ridges are never developed on their See also:

SURFACE

surface. The tall upper molars have inner columns. The group is represented throughout the Old World as far See also:

east as Celebes, and has one living North See also:

AMERICAN

American representative. All the species may be included in the genus Bos, with several subgeneric divisions (see See also:

ANOA

ANOA, See also:

AUROCHS (from Lat. urns, the wild ox, and " ox ")

AUROCHS, See also:

BANTIN, or BANTING

BANTIN, BISON, See also:

BUFFALO

BUFFALO, See also:

GAUR, See also:

GAYAL

GAYAL, Ox and See also:

YAK). The second group, or Caprinae, includes the sheep and goats, which are smaller animals than most of the Bovidae, generally with horns in both sexes, but those of the See also:

FEMALES

females small. In the males the horns are usually compressed and triangular, with transverse ridges or knobs, and either curving backwards or See also:

SPIRAL

spiral. The muzzle is narrow and hairy; and when face-glands are present these are small and insignificant; while the tail is See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short and flattened. Unlike the Bovinae, there are frequently glands in the feet; and the upper molar See also:

TEETH (O.E. Eel); plural of tooth, O.E. top)

teeth differ from those of that group in their narrower crowns, which lack a distinct inner See also:

COLUMN (Lat. columna)

column. When a face-See also:

PIT (O. E. pytt, cognate with Du. put, Ger. Pfutze, &c., all ultimately adaptations of Lat. puteus, well, formed from root pu-, to cleanse, whence gurus, clean, pure)

pit is present in the skull it is small. The genera are Ovis (sheep), Capra (goats) and Hemitragus (See also:

TAHR

tahr). Sheep and goats are very nearly related, but the former never have a See also:

beard on the See also:

CHIN

chin of the males, which are devoid of a strong odour; and their horns are typically of a different type. There are, however, several more or less transitional forms.

Tahr are short-horned goats. The group is unknown in America, and in Africa is only represented in the mountains of the north, extending, however, some distance south into the See also:

SUDAN (Arabic Bilad-es-Sudan, country of the blacks)

Sudan and See also:

ABYSSINIA (officially ETHIOPIA)

Abyssinia. All the species are See also:

mountain-dwellers., (See See also:

UDAD, AOUDAD

UDAD, See also:

ARGALI

ARGALI, See also:

GOAT (a common Teut. word; O. Eng. gat, Goth. gaits, Mod. Ger. Geiss, cognate with Lat. haedus, a kid)

GOAT, See also:

IBEX

IBEX, See also:

MOUFLON, SHEEP and TAHR.) The See also:

MUSK (Med. Lat. muscus, late Gr. µbvXos, possibly Pers. mushk, from Sansk. mushka, the scrotum)

musk-ox (Ovibos moschatus) alone represents the family Ovibovinae, which is probably most nearly related to the next group (see MUSK-OX). Next come the Rupicaprinae, which include several genera of mountain-dwelling ruminants, typified by the See also:

EUROPEAN

European See also:

CHAMOIS

chamois (Rupicapra); the other genera being the See also:

ASIATIC

Asiatic See also:

SEROW, or SARAU

serow, See also:

GORAL

goral and See also:

TAKIN

takin, and the North American Rocky Mountain goat. These ruminants are best described as goat-like antelopes. (See See also:

ANTELOPE

ANTELOPE, CHAMOIS, GORAL, ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT, SEROW and TAKIN.) Under the indefinable See also:

TERM

term " antelope " (q.v.) may be included the seven remaining sections, namely Tragelaphinae (kudu and See also:

ELAND (= elk)

eland), Hippotraginae (See also:

sable antelope and See also:

ORYX (Gr. opvE, a pickaxe, hence applied to the animal)

oryx), Antilopinae (See also:

black-See also:

buck, gazelles, &c.), Cervicaprinae (See also:

REEDBUCK (Dutch rietbok)

reedbuck and See also:

WATER

water-buck), Neotraginae (See also:

KLIPSPRINGER

klipspringer and steinbok), Cephalophinae (dickers and four-horned antelopes) and Bubalinae (hartebeests and gnus). (R.

End of Article: BOVIDAE

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