TRAGELAPHINyE 151 



foetus. Skull generally with large or small lachrymal 

 vacuities, and frequently a pair of deep pits in frontals. 

 Upper molars broad and relatively short-crowned, but rather 

 taller in the Indian genera, in which they develop an 

 accessory inner column, and thus approximate very closely 

 to those of the Bovinm, to which group these antelopes are 

 considered by Pocock to be closely related. 



The distributional area includes Ethiopian Africa and 

 peninsular India. In Nature, vol. xci, p. 58, 1913, the 

 writer has given reasons to show that a tragelaphine antelope 

 probably existed in the Euphrates Valley during the 

 Assyrian period. 



The genera may be diagnosed as follows : — 



A. Face-glands wanting ; horns long and spiral ; face 



and body very generally ornamented with white 



markings, in the form of stripes, bands, and spots. 



a. Horns in both sexes; tail tufted; no inguinal 



glands. 



a}. Horns comparatively smooth, forming a simple 



open lyrate curve Boocercus. 



b^. Horns very strongly keeled, nearly evenly 



divergent Taurotragus. 



h. Horns (except as an abnormality) restricted to 



males ; tail hairy throughout ; inguinal glands 



present. 



a^. Horns flattened behind at base, with a strong 



external basal keel, and rarely forming more 



than two complete turns of a spiral TragelapJtus. 



b'. Horns rounded behind at base, without external 

 basal keel, and generally forming three com- 

 plete turns of a more or less open spiral Strejisiceros. 



B. Face-glands present ; horns short, not forming a 



distinct spiral, wanting in females ; body not 

 marked with white bauds and stripes. 



a. Size larger; a single pair of horns; face-glands 



small Boselaphus. 



b. Size smaller ; typically two pairs of horns ; face- 



glands large Tetracerus. 



I. Genus TRAGELAPHUS. 



Tragelaphus, Blainville, Bull. Soc. Philoin. 1816, p. 75; Riltimcyer, 

 Abh. sclnveiz. pal. Ges. vol. v, p. 73, 1878; Sclater and Thomas, 

 Booh of Antelopes, vol. iv, p. 103, 1900; Pocock, Proc. Zool. Soc. 

 1910, pp. 848 and 921 ; Heller, Smithson. Misc. Collect, vol. be, 

 no. 8, p. 16, 1912. 



Nyala, Heller, Smithson. Misc. Collect, vol. Ix, no. 8, p. 16, 1912. 



