ANTELOPES. 



267 



Eland. 



\, 



Genus Orias. 



With the large and handsome African animals known as eland, or impofo, we 

 come to the first representatives of the extensive group of antelopes, which 

 includes the whole of the remain- 

 ing members of the bovine 

 family. Although the term 

 antelope is one in common use, 

 and most of the members of 

 the group are easily recognised, 

 yet, owing to the number of 

 generic types and the diversity t^fe. 

 of their structure, it is exceed- \| 

 ingly difficult to distinguish 

 antelopes as a whole from the 

 oxen on the one hand and from 

 the goats on the other; the 

 transition to the former group 

 being effected by means of the 

 anoa, and to the latter by the 

 goat-like antelopes just described. 

 Antelopes are, indeed, the most 

 generalised members of the pre- 

 sent family now existing, and 

 since they are also its oldest 

 known representatives, it is prob- 

 able that from them have been 

 derived the more specialised 

 types already treated of, so that 

 the above-mentioned transitions 



are precisely what we might naturally expect to occur. 

 Characters of As a whole, antelopes are characterised by their graceful build, 



Antelopes. anc [ by the head being carried considerably above the level of the 

 back. The horns, which may or may not be present in the females, are generally 

 long, more or less cylindrical, and often lyrate in shape ; while they are frequently 

 marked with prominent rings, and have an upright direction. Their bony internal 

 cores, instead of being honeycombed, as in the oxen, sheep, and goats, are nearly 

 solid throughout. These animals very generally have a gland beneath the eye, by 

 which they are distinguished from the oxen and goats ; but, as regards their teeth, 

 some of them resemble the oxen, while others approximate to the sheep and goats. 

 Antelopes (in the proper sense of the word) are strictly confined 

 to the Old World ; and by far the greater majority of them are now 

 restricted to Africa, with the adjacent regions of Syria and Arabia. Indeed, if we 

 except the widely-spread group of gazelles, the only antelopes found beyond those 



head OF bull eland. — After Nicolls and Eglington. 



Distribution. 



