378 GIRAFFE GROUP 



As regards its general characters, the skull of the okapi (fig, 

 79) appears to be intermediate between that of the giraffe on the 

 one hand and that of the extinct SaviotJierium on the other. 

 It has, for instance, a greater development of air-cells in the 

 intermediate layer than the latter, but much less than the former. 

 Again, in Saniotherium the horns are situated immediately over the 

 eye-sockets, in the okapi they are placed just behind the latter, 

 while in giraffes they are partly on the parietal bones. In general 

 form the okapi is more like an antelope than a giraffe, the fore 

 and hind cannon-bones, and consequently the entire limbs, being 

 of approximately equal length. From this it seems probable that 

 Samotheriuin and Ocapia indicate the giraffe-line ; while the apparently 

 hornless HelladotJierium of the Grecian pliocene may occupy a some- 

 what similar position in regard to the horned SivatJier-iiim of the 

 Indian Siwalik strata. 



In 1902 Mr. A. Wiedemann announced in OrientaliscJie Literatur- 

 Zeitung, vol. v. p. 220, that he had identified among the paintings 

 from Beni- Hasan, Egypt, of the Twelfth Dynasty, the portrait of an 

 okapi. The picture has been long known to archaeologists, and the 

 creature portrayed was sacred to the god Set, and was termed sche. 

 Mr. Wiedemann's description of the portrait of the sche is as follows. 

 The animal is evidently a ruminant of large size, with a long neck 

 rising obliquely from the body, and a long and narrow face. Both 

 lips are elongated, but the upper one projects in front of the lower, so 

 that the mouth approaches a proboscis. The nostrils are situated 

 close to the upper lip. On the forehead, above each eye, is a horn- 

 like process somewhat similar to that of a giraffe, and the ears are 

 large. When the colour of the animal is shown, it is yellowish or 

 almost red. Whether the tail ends in a tuft or in an artistic flourish 

 is difficult to decide. Compared with the okapi, the Beni-Hasan 

 portrait of the sche is stated to show a remarkable resemblance, 

 especially in the contour of the head and body and the profile of the 

 face, although there is a certain difference in the form of the ears. 

 No mention is made of the occurrence of the zebra-like markings of 

 the okapi in the sche, from w^iich it would seem that the portrait 

 of the latter indicates a uniformly reddish coloured animal. As the 

 spotting of the giraffe is clearly indicated in contemporary paintings 

 of that animal, it is practically certain that the zebra-like stripes of 

 the sche would have been equally well shown in the portraits of that 

 animal, had they existed. Mr. Wiedemann suggests that in ancient 

 times the okapi inhabited the Nile valley, where it was well known to 



