CHAPTER XIII 



WILDEBEEST, DAMALISCUS, AND HARTEBEEST 



Subfamily Bubalince 



The Bubalincs include some of the most grotesque and 

 specialized antelopes as well as some comparatively gen- 

 eralized types. In affinities they are closely related on the 

 one side to the egocerine antelopes or sables through the 

 genus Damaliscus and on the other to the African buffalo 

 through the wildebeest, Gorgon. The hartebeests are a 

 highly specialized genus and represent the extreme diverg- 

 ing branch of the Bubalincs tree. The characters which are 

 common to this somewhat diverse assemblage are the elon- 

 gate head, especially the snout region, which has very long 

 nasal bones; the high withers; the long, tufted tail; the pres- 

 ence of horns and of two mammae in the female; the rudi- 

 mentary condition of the anteorbital gland, and the narrow 

 ears. The members are all grazers and are primarily open- 

 plains antelopes possessing great speed. The group is ap- 

 parently of more modern origin than either the egocerine 

 or tragelaphine antelopes. The oldest members recorded 

 have been found only as far back as the Pliocene of India. 

 More recent species of hartebeests have been discovered in 

 Pleistocene deposits in South Africa. 



Key to the Genera 



Skull not markedly elongate, the horn bases never united into a pedicle 



Horns buffalo-like in shape, curving downward from the base and 



extending outward at right angles to the head; nape 



and throat maned; muzzle broad Gorgon 



Horns not curving downward from the base but directed backward 



and upward; neck without mane; muzzle normal 



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