458 AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 



female are 20 inches, those of the largest male In a series of 

 three specimens 28^2 inches. Ward's record male is 36^ 

 inches in length of horns. 



Eland 



Taurotragus 



Taurotragus Wagner, 1855, Schreber's Saiigethiere, Suppl., vol. V, p. 439; 

 type, T. oryx Pallas. 



In the eland the horns are present in both sexes, curved 

 in a close spiral, and marked by a prominent rounded keel 

 which is most pronounced basally. The horns usually exceed 

 the head in length, and are heaviest in the male but longer 

 in the female. The skull has practically no characters, the 

 two species differing more from each other in shape and rela- 

 tive sizes of the lachrymal, nasal, and premaxillary bones than 

 do the other genera of the Tragela-phince. The body size is 

 large, about equalling the ox, but the legs are more slender 

 and the neck deeper. A dorsal mane extends from the head 

 to the shoulders. The lower throat is adorned by a pendent 

 dewlap which is best developed in the male. The hair on 

 forehead becomes lengthened and bushy in old males. The 

 tail reaches the hocks and is tufted. Both sexes are marked 

 on the body by from ten to sixteen narrow white transverse 

 stripes which become obsolete in old males. The inside of 

 the foreleg above the knee is marked by a dark transverse 

 bar and the breast and the belly along the median line are 

 marked by a broad blackish band. The living species are oryx 

 and derbiafius, both having one or more geographical races. 



The eland ranges in Africa from the Senegal and Gambia 

 watersheds, the western affluents of the White Nile, Uganda 

 and British East Africa from Gondokoro and Mount Elgon 

 southward to the Cape region. They occur on open veldt 

 and bush-covered country within a vertical range from sea- 

 level to eight thousand feet. One Pliocene species is known 

 from India and a later Pleistocene species from Algeria. 

 The genus Paleoreas, which ranged from the Miocene to 

 the Pliocene, is quite distinct, but shows the short rostrum 

 of derbianus. It had, however, nearly vertically directed 

 horns, like those of the koodoo, extending directly above 

 the eyes. 



