ANTILOCAPRID.K 333 



the limbs and cervical vertebrae were decidedly shorter, although of 

 a similar slender type Helladotherium, of the Pliocene of Greece 

 and India, is represented by a species of considerably larger size 

 than the Giraffe, with no appendages or lachrymal vacuity to the 

 skull, and with shorter and stouter limbs and neck 



Hydaspitherium, Bramatherium, and Sivatherium are Indian genera, 

 characterised by the presence of large palmated and antler-like 

 cranial appendages, varying considerably in arrangement. The 

 former genus has a large lachrymal vacuity which is absent in the 

 two latter. In the first and second genera all the appendages rise 

 from a common base ; but in Sivath riwm there is a pair of simple 

 horn-like projections on the orbits in addition to the posterior 

 palmated antlers. Sivatherium was an animal of huge bulk, being 

 the largest known representative of the Pecora. 



Another apparently allied type is Samotherium, of the Pliocene 

 of the Isle of Samos, which appears also to have some affinity with 

 the Antelopes. The skull is nearly as large as that of the Giraffe, 

 and is of the same elongated shape, although depressed between the 

 conical horn-cores, which rise vertically above the orbits, and without 

 a median bony prominence on the frontals. The horn-cores form 

 mere processes of the frontals. The diastema and the mandibular 

 symphysis are shorter than in the Giraffe, and the latter is less 

 deflected. The teeth, although larger, are almost indistinguishable 

 from those of the Giraffe, the only well-marked difference being that 

 the last lower premolar has a double in place of a single postero- 

 internal column. 



Family Antilocaprid^:. 



Closely allied to the Bovidce, but the horns deciduous and branched. 



Antilocapra. 1 — The Prongbuck, or Prong-horned Antelope 

 (Antilocapra americana), as the single existing member of this family 

 is called, is an animal of nearly the same size as the Fallow Deer, 

 but of a lighter and more graceful build. It is an inhabitant of the 

 prairies of North America, where it is one of the few representa- 

 tives of the Cavicorn Pecora. The bony horn-cores are unbranched, 

 and form vertical, blade-like projections immediately above the 

 orbit. The horns themselves are compressed, and nearly one foot in 

 length, having a gentle backward curvature, the short branch arising 

 somewhat above the middle of its height, and inclining forwards. 

 AVhen the horn is about to be cast off it becomes loosened, and a 

 new one is formed upon the bony core beneath it. The ears are 

 long and pointed, and the tail is short. The neck has a thick mane 

 of long chestnut-coloured hair, and there is a white patch on the 



rump. 



1 Ord. Joum. dc Physique, vol. lxxxvii. p. 149 (1818). 



