OCR Text |
Show L875.] ON ASIATIC SHEEP. 517 obtained by Severtzoff. The fact of Ovis poli aud Ovis karelini inhabiting the same area on the Upper Narin seems to us to indicate the probability that the difference between these two forms is not so superficial as might be at first supposed. "Ovis HEINSI. *' I have thus named this species, the first specimen having been sent m e by General Heins from Tokinack." Description.-" The horns are not massive ; they are pressed in . from the sides, and have three sharp edges ; the inner spiral would fit on an inverted cone with the base turned toward the skull. . . . A section of the base of the horn shows the nuchal surface to be a little narrower than the orbital surface, each of these surfaces being 1^ times as wide as the frontal surface. The basal axis of the horn and the vertical axis of the skull form an angle of about 40°, the basal with the median axis an angle of about 31° ; the latter and the terminal axis form a right angle. . . . The height, judging from the skull, would be a little less than that of Ovis karelini. . . ." Bange.-" This species is only known from the skulls of middle-aged specimens with incompletely developed horns These specimens were, as above stated, found in the Tokmack district, without, however, any more exact particulars as to locality. The geographical distribution of the species is therefore unknown. Some greyish brown Sheep seen by m e in the Alexandrovski district, near Merke, belong, I think, to this species. They were seen at an elevation of about 8000 feet, near the rivers Katchara and Chu. Mr. Semenoff was also told by the Kirgees about these Sheep ; and they could hardly, I think, be Ovis poli. " The horns of Ovis heinsi are not much smaller than those of Ovis poli of the same age. The skull of a specimen of Ovis heinsi, aged 5 years, measured 11" 4'" ; the length of the horns is 33" 2"', and the span between the tips is 31" 4'". The same measurements in Ovis poli oi the same age are respectively 12" 6'", 37", and 35". . . . The Kirgees people might easily mistake this species for Ovis poli." "Ovis NIGRIMONTANA. "I have thus named this species on account of its having been first met with in the Karatau or Black Mountains." Description.-" The horns are not massive ; the fronto-nuchal edge is very sharp, the other two edges are also not much rounded; the frontal surface is narrow, but prominent; the other two surfaces pressed in, rendering the edges sharp, especially the fronto-nuchal edge. A section of the base of the horn shows the orbital and nuchal surfaces to be nearly equal in width, each of them being about 11 times as wide as the frontal surface. The axis of the skull and the basal axis of the horn form an angle of about 38°, the median and basal axes an angle of 23° ; and the angle of the terminal axis of the horn and the vertical axis of the skull is 63°. The ridges of the horn are sharp, straight, and regularly parallel with each other. . . . |