HYRAXES, ELEPHANTS, AND UNGULATES 291 



numerous and important family Bovidte, to the variety 

 and extent of which in the present day we have already 

 alluded. The Bovidte in fact contain nearly two-thirds 

 of the species of Ungulate animals now existing on the 

 world's surface, and embrace at least 200 species belong- 

 ing to forty-five distinct genera, amongst which are the 

 Sheep, Ox, and Goat, the animals of which the flesh is 

 mostly used for food by civilized man. 



According to the arrangement of Flower and Lydekker, 

 the Bovidte are divisible into about ten sub-families, the 

 seven first of which embrace the mammals commonly 

 known as Antelopes. These are mostly met with in the 

 more open districts of the Ethiopian Region, where in 

 former days they roamed about in exuberant multitudes, 

 but have been sadly diminished at the present time by 

 the persecutions of the sportsman and the hunter. We 

 have not space here to go into the numerous and varied 

 forms of Antelopes, but must refer our readers who wish 

 for special information on that subject to " The Book of 

 Antelopes " now in process of publication. It must suffice 

 to say that the roll of Antelopes numbers some 150 

 species, of which 9 are attributable to the Palasarctic 

 Region, 4 to the Oriental, and 135 to the Ethiopian 

 Region. Three of the Oriental species belong to peculiar 

 genera restricted to that Region, and the fourth is a Gazelle, 

 a member of a genus which is also well represented in 

 the Palrearctic and Ethiopian Regions. It is therefore 

 evident that the Antelopes, although slightly represented 

 elsewhere, form one of the most predominant and charac- 

 teristic features of the Ethiopian Region. 



The Rupicaprinte, forming the eighth sub-family of 

 Bovidte, and containing what are commonly called the 



