CHAPTER II 



FURTHER NOTES ON THE QUESTIONS OF PROTECTIVE 

 COLORATION, RECOGNITION MARKS, AND THE IN- 

 FLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENT ON LIVING ORGANISMS 



Occasional resemblance of African mammals to natural objects — 

 Hartebeests — Elephants — Giraffes — Coloration of the Somali 

 giraffe — Giraffes not in need of a protective coloration — Koodoos 

 and sable antelopes — Acute sense of hearing in the moose — 

 Possible explanation of large size of ears in the African tragela- 

 phine antelopes — Coloration of bushbucks, situtungas, and 

 inyalas — Leopards the only enemies of the smaller bush-haunt- 

 ing antelopes — Recognition marks — Must render animals con- 

 spicuous to friend and foe alike — Ranges of allied species of 

 antelopes seldom overlap — Hybridisation sometimes takes place 

 — Wonderful coloration of the bontebok- — Coloration distinctly 

 conspicuous and therefore not protective — Recognition marks 

 unnecessary — Coloration of the blesbok — The blesbok merely 

 a duller coloured bontebok — Difference in the habitat of the 

 two species — The coloration of both species may be due to the 

 influence of their respective environments— The weak point in 

 the theory of protective coloration when applied to large 

 mammals — Hares and foxes in the Arctic and sub-Arctic Regions 

 — The efficacy of colour protection at once destroyed by move- 

 ment — Buffaloes and lions — General conclusions regarding the 

 theory of protective coloration as applied to large mammals. 



Certain observations have been made and theories 

 propounded on the occasional resemblance of African 

 mammals to natural objects, which have never 

 seemed to me to have much significance, although 

 they are often referred to as valuable observations 

 by writers on natural history. 



Thus it has been said that hartebeests, which are 



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