884 



THE UNGULATES, OR HOOFED MAMMALS 



THE GERENUK 

 Genus Lithocranius 



Still more remarkable than the preceding is the gerenuk, or Waller's gazelle 

 (Lithocranius walleri) which is also an East- African species, ranging from Somali- 

 land to the Kilima-Njaro district. The most peculiar external feature about this an- 

 imal is the excessively-long neck (as shown in the accompanying figure), which has 

 led to it being likened to a miniature giraffe. The horns of the bucks curve forward 

 at the tips in a peculiar hook-like manner, and are usually about thirteen inches in 



length, although they may reach fourteen inches. 

 The skin of this antelope is distinguished by the pres- 

 ence of a very broad dark brown band running down 

 the middle of the back, which in its widest part 

 measures some seven or eight inches across, and stands 

 out in striking contrast to the rufous fawn of the 

 flanks and limbs. 



The skull differs from those of the true gazelles 

 by its extremely dense and solid structure, as well as 

 by the relative shortness of its facial portion, its re- 

 markable straightness, and the unusually small size 

 of the cheek-teeth. 



Captain Swayne says that ' ' the gere- 

 nuk is found all over the Somali coun- 

 try in small families, never in large herds, and gener- 

 ally in scattered bush, ravines, and rocky ground. I 

 have never seen it in the cedar forests, nor in the tree- 

 less plains. Gerenuk are not necessarily found near 

 water; in fact, generally in stony ground with a 

 sprinkling of thorn jungle. The gait of this antelope 

 is peculiar. When first seen, a buck gerenuk will 

 generally be standing motionless, head well up, look- 

 ing at the intruder, and trusting to its invisibility. 

 Then the head dives under the bushes, and the ani- 

 mal goes off at a long, crouching trot, stopping now 

 and again behind some bush to gaze. The trot is 

 awkward looking, and very like that of a camel; the 

 gerenuk seldom gallops, and its pace is never very 

 fast. In the whole shape of the head and neck, and 

 in the slender lower jaw, there is a marked resemblance 

 between the gerenuk and the dibatag." This antelope subsists more by browsing 

 than by grazing, and may not unfrequently be observed standing up on its hind- 

 legs, with outstretched neck, and its fore-feet resting against the trunk of a tree, in 

 order to pluck the foliage. 



HEAD 



THE 



AND NECK OF 



GERENUK. 

 (From Sclater, Proc. Zool Soc., 1892.) 



