GIRAFFES, AND HOW TO CAPTURE THEM 135 



and the Equatorial Soudan, will no doubt within the 

 next hundred years, probably much less, have wrought 

 the downfall of the last giraffe left to the dark 

 continent. 



Ages ago, in the Miocene Period, the giraffe family 

 was more numerously represented, and enjoyed a 

 larger geographical range than at present. Fossil 

 remains of extinct species have been found in Greece 

 and India ; while an allied form, the Relladothermmf 

 was distributed at the same epoch as widely as from 

 the south of France to Northern India. Gradually, 

 as the ages passed, these older forms disappeared, 

 and the vast continent of Africa — that marvellous 

 playground of zoological life — became the final home 

 of the giraffe, the last surviving representative of the 

 ancient family of Cameloparclelidcv. 



By some scientists the giraffe has been placed inter- 

 mediately between the deer and ox families ; others 

 class it as a distinct family.^ It may be pointed out 

 that the animal has neither true horns nor antlers. 

 It has, it is true, two short bony protuberances upon 

 the head; these are round, covered with hair and 

 slightly tufted, but cannot be put down as anything 



' Rtitimeyer has called the giraffes " a most fantastic kind 

 of deer." Oscar Smidt observes, as I thmk with more reason, 

 " The Giraffes stand close to the Deer, not because they have 

 branched off from the Deer, but because the unknown ances- 

 tors on both sides showed a disposition to certain reductions 

 and convergencies of a similar kind." 



