ZOOLOGY 



393 



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243. HEADS OF coke's HAKTEBEEST [RUJLII.I.S COK-ISl) 



and these spirally directed horns (though this feature has independently 

 •developed in certain antelopes and goats) are universally typical of the 

 ■existing tragelaphs, and are found in a marked degree in such forms as 

 the kudu. 



At the present dav there are existing in the world one tragelaphine 

 species in India, the nilghai, and about fourteen valid species in Africa, 

 amongst which may be enumerated the eland, kudu, dwarf kudu, broad- 

 horned tragelaph, the bushbucks, and the water-loving Speke's tragelaph. 

 This animal, which has a congener called Selous' tragelaph in Barotse- 

 land, is really a large form of bushbuck which has become sjjecially 

 adapted to an existence in the water, especially in marshes. There 

 is also a West African type which from its handsome appearance is 

 called the " Pleasant " tragelaph. In all these three forms — Limnotragus 

 spekei, L. selousi, and L. gratus — the hoofs are much prolonged, as can 

 be seen in the accompanying illustration. The under side of the foot 

 is without hair, the false hoofs are much developed, the two toes spread 

 widely, and the creature is thus able to walk with ease over spongy 

 vegetable growth. In colour Speke's tragelaph is a dark mouse-brown, 

 tending sometimes to chocolate. The youug aud the females are a little 

 more chestnut in colour, and have faint white markings. The males 

 alone develop horns. This creature spends the greater part of the day- 

 time in the water, with little more than its nose showing above the surface. 

 It feeds on the youug shoots of papyrus and on the leaves of marsh 



