8 7 2 THE UNGULATES, OR HOOFED MAMMALS 



bulls wandering about by themselves. The Midgans of Somaliland hunt the beisa 

 with packs of yellow pariah dogs. One of the largest pair of horns measured thirty- 

 four and one-half inches in length. 



In the Kilima-Njaro district the genus is represented by the fringe- 

 Fringe-Eared eared oryx ^ Q ca u otis } } distinguished from the beisa by the ground 

 DryX color of the upper part of the face being of a rich fawn, and by the 

 sharply-pointed ears terminating in a tuft of long black hair, as shown in the illus- 

 tration on p. 874. This species is common in the plains and the tracts of thin 

 thorny bush. In examples killed by Sir. J. Willoughby the horns in the females 

 measured from thirty to thirty-two inches in length, while those of the males were 

 shorter, but thicker. 



The beatrix antelope (O. beatrix], of Western Arabia, and, it is 



said, of the Bushire district, is a much smaller animal than either of 



the above, standing about two feet eight inches in height, and is of a 



whitish color, with a dark spot on the face, and a large dark patch on each cheek 



meeting beneath the throat; the knees and the front of the lower part of both legs. 



are also blackish brown, and the end of the tail is black. The horns are only about 



fifteen inches in length. 



The last representative of the genus is the sabre-horned antelope, or 

 leucoryx (O. leucoryx}, which, while agreeing nearly in size with the 

 beisa, differs from the other four species in its recurved scimiter-like 

 horns, and uniform whitish coloration, which frequently shows a reddish tinge. The 

 reddish tinge is more marked in the under parts and the inner surfaces of the limbs 

 than elsewhere, and the neck is darker than the body. The head is marked by six 

 brown patches, of which there are one between the horns, two between the ears, 

 and two between the horns and eyes, while the sixth forms a streak on the nose. 

 The horns vary from thirty-four to thirty-nine and one-half inches in length. The 

 leucoryx is confined to the northeastern portion of Central Africa, being abundant 

 in Sennar and Kordofan, less common in the Central- Western Sudan, and also oc- 

 curring in parts of Nubia. 



In the Pliocene deposits of various parts of Europe, there occur re- 

 Extinct Forms . . 



mains or antelopes closely allied to the oryx, some of which have been 



generically separated under the name of Paleeoreas, and are said to show signs of 

 affinity with the sable antelope and its kindred. 



THE SABLE ANTELOPE AND ROAN ANTELOPE 

 Genus Hippotragus 



The sable and roan antelopes, together with some allied species, constitute an ex- 

 clusively African genus nearly allied to the oryx. They are distinguished by the 

 stout horns, which are ringed nearly to their tips, rising vertically from a ridge on 

 the skull immediately over the eyes at an obtuse angle to the plane of the lower 

 part of the face, and then curving in a bold sweep backward. The neck is clothed 

 with a distinct, erect, and often-recurving mane, the tail is rather short and dis- 



