WILDEBEEST AND HARTEBEEST 361 



short snout, the length of the nasal bones being only one- 

 half that of the skull; the orbit is large and has a ridge 

 below it; the premaxillary bones are square at their tips 

 with angular corners, and there is no evidence of an ante- 

 orbital fossa in the lachrymal bone. The horns of Gorgon 

 are lateral in direction while those of Connochcetes, the type 

 of which is the white-tailed gnu, curve forward over the eyes 

 and then upward and backward. The two wildebeests have 

 furthermore marked differences in the body shape. The 

 brindled is quite bison-like, with enlarged shoulders, high 

 withers, and small hind quarters while the gnu has enlarged 

 knobbed hips and comparatively small shoulders or withers. 

 In general shape the skull of the brindled wildebeest ap- 

 proaches more closely that of the African buffalo than the 

 gnu. It is distinguishable from the buffalo only by the dif- 

 ference in horn shape and narrower cheek-teeth. It is re- 

 markable how closely the bones of the snout of these two 

 members of the Bovidce agree in shape and proportions. 

 The brindled and the white-bearded wildebeests are the sole 

 representatives of the genus Gorgon. They range throughout 

 eastern Africa from the Vaal River, the northern af^fluent of 

 the Orange, to the Athi Plains of British East Africa. 



White-Bearded Wildebeest 



Gorgon albojuhatus 



The white-bearded wildebeest is distinguishable from 

 the brindled species, as its name signifies, by the white or 

 light color of its throat mane. There is no other important 

 or obvious difference, both species having similarly dark 

 bodies which show a tendency to dark cross bands due to 

 a worn or ragged condition of the hair along transverse 

 streaks. Owing to the absence of specimens which show 

 an intermediate coloration of the throat mane between the 

 black of the brindled and the white or bufTy of the white- 

 bearded, the latter must be considered a distinct species. 

 The white-bearded is the northern representative of the 

 brindled wildebeest type and ranges from central German 

 East Africa northward to the southern slopes of Mount 

 Kenia in British East Africa. 



