<!<>() THE OKAPI OB' CENTRAL AFRICA. 



in the ancestors of the girajSfe) grew antlers or horns which were shed 

 from time to time, as in the deer. This is the case with the modern 

 prongbuck, and in all probability this was the case with the ancestors 

 of the giraffe and other early memljers of the giraffine family. To-day 

 the giraffe only retains the long horn cores or sockets, from the end of 

 which in all probability antlers once sprang. In the ca.se of the okapi, 

 as already' remarked, these bony prominences have gradually dwindled 

 to scarcely discernible bumps. In other respects, however, the new 

 beast of Central Africa represents pretty nearly the primitive type 

 from which the giraffe rose in exaggerated development of neck and 

 limbs. 



