Guide to the great fame animals (Ungulata) in the Department of Zoology, British Museum (Natural History) : Illustrated by 53 text and other figures.

  • British Museum (Natural History). Department of Zoology.
Date:
1907
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Guide to the great fame animals (Ungulata) in the Department of Zoology, British Museum (Natural History) : Illustrated by 53 text and other figures. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    27/152 (page 13)
    HOLLOW-HORNED RUMINANTS. larger of these is the Somali Wild Ass (E. asinus somaliensis, 1015), distinguished by the absence of stripes on the back and shoulders and the presence of dark barrings on the legs; it is represented by a specimen shot by Lt.-Col. A. Paget. Side by side with this is an example of the smaller Nubian race (E. a. africanus, 1014), from the Atbara River, presented in 1904 by the Hon. Charles Rothschild, which shows the narrow stripe along the middle of the back, and the broader but very short one across the shoulders characteristic of the race, in which the legs are uniformly coloured. Suborder ARTIODACTYLA. The members of this suborder are distinguished from the Perisso- dactyla by numerous anatomical peculiarities, among which the structure of the limbs is the most striking externally. The third and fourth toes of all the feet are almost equally developed and flattened on their inner or contiguous surfaces, so that each is not symmetrical in itself, but when the two are placed together they form a figure symmetrically disposed to a line drawn between them (the so-called “ cloven hoof ”). Or, in other words, the axis, or median line of the whole foot is a line drawn between the third and fourth toes. These may be the only toes present, or there may be also the second and fifth, but always of much smaller size. A large number of species have a pair of horns or antlers growing from the frontal bones. This group includes the Hollow-horned Ruminants (Oxen, Sheep, Goats, and Antelopes), Giraffes, Deer, Chevrotains, Camels, and Pigs. They (especially the first-named) are now the dominating members of the great Ungulate order, widespread in geographical range, rich in generic and specific variation, and numerous in individuals. Hollow-horned Ruminants. The Bovidae, Antilocaprida, Giraffida, Section PECORA. and Cervida collectively constitute the Family Bovidm section Pecora, or True Ruminants. In all this extensive group of Artiodactyle Ungulates there are no upper incisor teeth, and the lower canines, or tusks, are approximated to the incisors to make a uniform series. The molar teeth, which are frequently very tall, have the columns [Lower Mammal Gallery. Oases 41 to 66; most of the cases in the central line of the gallery, and all those in the Cor- ridors.]