302 SEXUAL selection: mammals. PartIL 



the best of my ability the sexual differences of animals 

 belonging to all classes, I cannot avoid the conclusion 

 that the curiously-arranged colours of many antelopes, 

 though common to both sexes, are the result of sexual 

 selection primarily applied to the male. 



The same conclusion may perhaps be extended to the 

 tiger, one of the most beautiful animals in the world, 

 the sexes of which cannot be distinguished by colour, 

 even bv the dealers in wild beasts. Mr. Wallace 

 believes ^^ that the striped coat of the. tiger ''so assi- 

 " milates with the vertical stems of the bamboo, as to 

 *' assist greatly in concealing him from his approaching 

 " prey." But this view does not appear to me satisfac- 

 tory. We have some slight evidence that his beauty 

 may be due to sexual selection, for in two species of 

 Felis analogous marks and colours are rather brighter 

 in the male than in the female. The zebra is conspic- 

 uously striped, and stripes on the open plains of South 

 Africa cannot afford any protection. BurchelP^ in de- 

 scribing a herd says, " their sleek ribs glistened in the 

 " sun, and the brightness and regularity of their striped 

 " coats presented a picture of extraordinary beauty, in 

 " which probably they are not surpassed b}^ any other 

 " quadruped." Here we have no evidence of sexual 

 selection, as throughout the whole group of the Equidae 

 the sexes are identical in colour. Nevertheless he who 

 attributes the white and dark vertical stripes on the 

 flanks of various antelopes to sexual selection, will pro- 

 bably extend the same view to the Eoyal Tiger and 

 beautiful Zebra. 



We have seen in a former chapter that when young 

 animals belonging to any class follow nearly the same 



38 ' Westminster Eeview,' July 1, 1867, p. 5. 



39 ' Travels in South Africa,' 1824, vol. ii. p. 315. 



