Britain and on the Continent.[1] The finest bulls of the Lithuanian breed stand about five feet six inches at the withers, whilst, according to Richardson, the American Bison is upwards of six feet in height. The fossil British Aurochs, as compared with these, must have frequently reached a height of seven feet at the shoulder. The Grisly Bear is at present one of the most formidable enemies to the American Aurochs, as doubtless was also the case in bygone times on British soil.
The Long-fronted or Small Fossil Ox is considered by Prof. Owen to be an ancient and distinct species which sojourned with the other oxen, bears, elephants, and like extinct quadrupeds. It seems to have been very plentiful in Ireland, and survived at all events up to the human, and most likely the historical, period, in which cattle are frequently noticed in old Irish MSS.,[2] but of course not described with the necessary exactness to enable us to determine the species or breed. In bogs, and the deposits of lakes, especially in those of Loch Gur, its bones and skulls have been found in numbers. Many of the latter show fractured indentations on the forehead.[3]
The antiquity of the Long-fronted Ox has been lately disputed by Professor Boyd Dawkins, who is of opinion that this Ox and the Goat were brought to Great Britain from the Continent by man long after the larger animals had disappeared—some time in the period which intervened between the commencement of the formation of bogs on the ancient Irish lakes, and the first historical evidence of the animals of the country. It is doubtful, however, whether or not we have sufficient evidence as to the exact antiquity of this Short-horned Ox. It would seem that remains have recently been found both in conjunction with the Bison and Giant Ox, Elephant, and Rhinoceros in England, and in lacustrine marls in Ireland, associated with bones of the Great-horned Deer. Looked on in connection with the origin of our cattle, it seems at all events, whether descended from the Urus or any other wild
- ↑ The American Bison has fifteen pairs of ribs, while the European has fourteen. As regards the Aurochs, no fossil skeleton has been found sufficiently perfect to show the exact number of ribs it possessed.—Ed.
- ↑ In a curious Irish MS. of the ninth century, wild oxen are spoken of as inhabiting the county of Clare.—A.L.A.
- ↑ Many of these cuts are small, and may have been produced by blows from the narrow bronze hatchets (celts) plentifully discovered throughout the country.—A.L.A.
