OCR Text |
Show 1885.] DR. F. H. H. GUILLEMARD ON OVIS NIVICOLA. 677 white; this colour does not surround the tail. The ears are remarkably short. Sir Victor and Mr. Basil Brooke, in their article on Asiatic Sheep (P. Z. S. 1875, p. 509), remark on the resemblance of the horns of this species to those of 0. montana, with which latter it has indeed, by some naturalists, been regarded as identical. But, as will be seen by the annexed illustrations, the uniformly smaller size of the head, the shortness and great breadth of the skull in its anterior aspect, the slight development of the praeorbital fossae, and the protuberance Fig. 2. Head of Ovis montana. of the orbit itself serve to distinguish markedly the Kamschatkan Sheep from that of America. The horns are less rugose than those of 0. montana. The frontal surface is convex ; the orbital surface at first concave, then flat, thus causing the fronto-orbital edge to be very sharp. The nuchal surface is convex and afterwards flattened ; and the two remaining edges are rounded. The following are the measurements obtained from a series of nine skulls:- Length of skull Breadth between orbits Length of horns round "[ curve J Circumference of horns I at base J Horns from tip to tip .. in. 10J 35 13J 21 Ovis nivicola. in. 101 34| 25 in. n 4| 24 13 171 in. 10* 14 21 in. 10| 35' 14 in. 9| 51 38 131 26 in. 101 13| 221 in. 10* 121 in. 35 13i 25i Ovis montana. in. 11 4f in. 13£ 6 43 PROC. ZOOL. Soc-1885, No. XLIV. 44 |