24 THE ANTELOPES IN 



It seems that no naturalist paid attention to Temminck's 

 short observation, so that the Abyssinian and Cape Klip- 

 springers have always been taken together as one and the 

 same species. In Sclater's book of Antelopes even we are 

 assured (T. II, p. 7): »of geographical variation we (Sclater 

 and Thomas) have as yet failed to find any evidence." 



In my opinion however there are really differences between 

 the two species, and as Temminck never described his 

 Abyssinian new species I describe it here under the name 

 given by him as 



Oreotragus saltatrixoides (Temminck). 



This Abyssinian species is smaller in all its dimensions 

 than the longer known Cape-species Oreotragus oreotragus 

 (this name has the priority of date over saltatrix) as will 

 be evident by the following measurements (in cm.) taken 



from our old skulls: 



saltatrixoides oreotragus 



d 9 d ' 9 



nasalia 3.8 4.5 4.3 



greatest breadth 8 7.8 8.9 8.7 



under jaw 10.1 11 11 11.6 



upper molar series .... 4.9 5.2 5.1 5.5 



lower molar series .... 5 5.9 5.4 6 



We see that the difference is not a small one, so that 

 even the skull of the adult female-oreotragus is much 

 stouter in all its dimensions than the skull of the adult 

 male of saltatrixoides ! 



As to the color the following short remark may be 

 decisive. The hairs of the Cape-specimens as well as those 

 of the Abyssinian ones are tipped with a peculiar green- 

 ish yellow color: a closer inspection now shows that 

 the Abyssinian specimens have constantly the hairs with 

 a much broader greenish yellow tip, so that the whole 

 animal makes the impression of being much more vividly 

 colored than Oreotragus oreotragus. I should say that in 

 saltatrixoides the hairs are longer than in the other species, 



Notes from the Leyden Museum, X'ol. XXIII. 



