342 UNGULATA 



patch, and bordered externally by a diffused dark line (see Fig. 

 121, p. 310). The Gazelles, of which there are some tw r enty- 

 four existing species, are typically Palsearctic desert forms, the 

 Springbok (G. euchori) being an outlying South African species. 

 G.' picticaudata and G. gutturosa are respectively found in "Western 

 Tibet and Mongolia, the former at great elevations. The 

 majority of the Gazelles do not exceed 30 inches in height, 

 although G. mohr is 36. Sir Victor Brooke classifies 1 the Gazelles 

 as follows : — 



A. No stripe on back ; three lower premolars. 



a. "White of rump not encroaching on the fawn of the haunches. 



I. Female with horns. 



1. Horns lyrate or sublyrate — G. dorcas, G. isabella, 



G. rufifrons, G. Icevipes, G. tilonura, G. naso. 



2. Horns non-lyrate — G. cuvieri, G. leptoceros, G. spekei, 



G. arabica, G. bennetti, G. fuscifrons, G. muscatensis. 

 II. Female without horns. 



G. subgutturosa, G. gutturosa, G. picticaudata. 



b. "White of rump projecting forwards in an angle into the fawn 



colour of the haunches. Horns in both sexes. 



G. da/ma, G. mohr, G. soemnnrriinji, G. granti (Fig. 121), 

 G. tliomsoni. 



B. A white stripe down the back, two lower premolars. Horns in 



both sexes. — G. euchore. 



The East African G. imlleri is an aberrant species, in which the 

 females are hornless, which has been made the type of the genus 

 Lithocranius. It is characterised by the extreme density of the 

 horns and skull, the slenderness of the mandible, and the small 

 size of the cheek-teeth, the upper molars being relatively broader 

 and lower than usual. The cranium is remarkable for the short- 

 ness of its facial portion, the large size and production backwards 

 of the supraoccipital, and for the circumstance that the long 

 basicranial axis is nearly parallel with the plane of the palate. 



Fossil species of Gazclla are found in the Pliocene and Pleistocene 

 deposits of Europe and India. G. deperdita (brevicornis), of the 

 Lower Pliocene of France and Greece, appears to be a generalised 

 species in which the lower molars frequently have accessory 

 columns, traces of which are found in some of the existing forms. 



Hippotrugine Section. — Includes very large African Antelopes, 

 with long horns, present in both sexes, which are placed over or 

 behind the orbit, and are either recurved, straight, or subspiral. 

 Skull with no distinct pits at apertures of supraorbital foramina in 

 frontals, no lachrymal fossa, and only a small lachrymal fissure. 

 No suborbital gland. Tail long, cylindrical, and tufted at the end. 



1 Proc. Zool. Soc. 1873, p. 537. Three species subsequently described are 

 here added to the list. 



