To the general reader the animals of greatest interest are no doubt the mammals, and particularly those which attract the sportsman, are of value for food, or furnish fur and skins for clothing. Of such animals the northern portion of North America and the mountains extending southward into the austral region furnish a large number.
The Musk-Ox.—In the far north, mostly beyond the arctic circle, lives the musk-ox, the hardiest of herbivores, in which, as expressed in its generic name, Ovibos, there is a curious mingling of the characteristics of the sheep and the ox. The teeth are similar to those of the sheep, the female has but two mammæ, and beneath the long yellowish-brown hair of the outer coat there is a thick wool-like growth. Its gentle, inoffensive nature is also similar to that of the sheep. The large feet and the horns, however, are like those of the ox tribe. The horns resemble those of the Cape buffalo, being broad at the base and covering nearly the entire forehead. They slope downward at the sides, and then curve forward and outward, at the same time tapering to a sharp point, which renders them efficient weapons. These characteristics, although intermediate between those of the sheep and the ox, are more strongly inclined to the former. In reality, however, the musk-ox is more goat-like than sheep-like, as is indicated by its covering of hair, its short sturdy legs, the cannon-bone being remarkably short, and its ability as a climber.
A full-grown musk-ox measures about 8 feet in length, inclusive of the short tail, and is 3 feet, 8 or 9 inches in height at the shoulders. The thick-set, shaggy body is supported on short stout legs, and the feet are broad, to serve both as scrapers in clearing away the snow from the moss and herbage on which it lives and in climbing ice-covered slopes.
Its range is over the Barren Grounds of Canada, the islands of the arctic archipelago, and the border of Greenland. Peary found it grazing in herds in the far north of Greenland beyond the inland ice, and was saved from starvation by the food it furnished. Although hardy and well adapted by nature to withstand the most severe cold, it moves southward over the Barren Grounds in winter and to some extent at least seeks shelter in the subarctic forest, but apparently does not pass to the southward of latitude 59°. Like certain other animals of the northern portion of the continent, its habitat is to the northeastward and it is unknown in Alaska.
Bones of the musk-ox found in the frozen soil of Siberia indicate that it formerly had a circumpolar distribution. A skull obtained near Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1871, and the presence of its bones in the superficial deposit of Europe as far south as the Pyrenees, show that it formerly lived far to the southward of its present southern limit. This was during the Pleistocene division of geological history, when glacial ice covered all of Canada and the arctic animals were crowded southward. As the ice melted and its southern margin receded, the musk-ox moved northward. The absence of this species in northern Europe and Asia, where the climatic conditions, nature of the vegetation, etc., are similar to those of its present home, is perhaps due to the influence of man. The successful introduction of the domesticated reindeer into Alaska suggests that beneficial results would follow the transplanting of the musk-ox to northern Siberia.
The Polar Bear.—About all of the northern coast-line of America, including the shore of Bering Sea and Baffin Bay, lives the well-known polar bear, which is circumpolar in its distribution. The wide range of this the most northern of the bear tribe is due not only to its strength and ability to make long journeys over rough ice-floes and the wide distribution of the animals it feeds upon, principally the hair-seal, but is aided by the fact that it takes to the water readily and is a good swimmer. It has also been known to make long journeys on floating ice.
The Eskimo Dog.—Another animal of circumpolar distribution, the original home of which is unknown, is the Eskimo dog, the range of which has no doubt been extended while the distribution of many other animals has been curtailed, owing to human influences.
The Caribou.—The neighbour of the musk-ox in the desolate solitudes of the far north, and in part ranging over the same ground, is the caribou, the American representative of the reindeer. Indeed the caribou and the reindeer have been considered as belonging to the same species by some naturalists, but recently the American division of the genus has been shown to consist of at least five species,