On two occasions I met with in this province some oxen of a very curious breed, called nata or niata. They appear to hold nearly the same relation to other cattle, which bull or pug dogs do to other dogs. Their forehead is very short and broad, with the nasal end turned up, and the upper lip much drawn back; their lower jaws project beyond the upper, and have a corresponding upward curve; hence their teeth are always exposed. Their nostrils are seated high up and are very open; their eyes project outwards. When walking they carry their heads low, on a short neck; and their hinder legs are rather longer compared with the front legs than is usual. Their bare teeth, their short heads, and upturned nostrils give them the most ludicrous self-confident air of defiance imaginable.
--Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle
The niata cattle would appear again in Origin of Species, as an example of a race dying out. Their lips, not meeting, did not allow them to browse leaves from trees.
Niata, as we're all aware, is Gaelic for "courageous", a singularly appropriate term for such ferocious-seeming ungulates.
