BOVID^E 341 



Jumna which cannot be distinguished from those of the existing 

 species. 



sEpyceros. 1 Horns compressed, lyrate, and wide -spreading; 

 present only in male. No suborbital gland, or lachrymal depression 

 in the skull. No lateral hoofs. Two species ; one from South and 

 the other from West Africa. 



The Palla (^. melampus) is a large Antelope standing over 

 3 feet high at the withers, and readily distinguished by its dark red 

 colour, gradually shading to white below. It is usually found on 

 or near hills in herds of from twenty to thirty. JE. petersi is 

 from the Congo. 



Saiga. 2 Nose very large, convex, and inflated. Supraorbital 

 gland present. Lachrymal fossa of skull small, and fissure absent ; 

 narial aperture very large ; nasals extremely short ; supraorbital 

 pits rather small. Horns yellow, lyrate, of moderate length ; 

 present only in male. Vertebrae : C 7, D 13, L 6, S 4, C 10. One 

 species, Eastern Europe and Western Asia. 



The Saiga (S. tartarica) is a clumsily built and somewhat 

 sheep-like Antelope inhabiting the steppes ; it occurs fossil in the 

 Pleistocene of France and England. 



Pantholops. 3 Allied in the characters of the head and skull to 

 Saiga, but the nose less convex, the nostrils of the male more 

 swollen, and the horns of that sex black, very long, compressed, 

 and lyrate ; those of female very short. One species, Central Asia. 



The Chiru (P. hodgsoni) inhabits the highlands of Western Tibet 

 and Turkestan. In the former area it generally goes in small herds 

 of from three to six, and in the summer may be found grazing in 

 early morning on the level spaces frequently found in the river 

 valleys at elevations of about 15,000 feet. It is excessively shy 

 and difficult to approach. The large size of the narial aperture in 

 the skull of Chiru is suggestive of a connection with respiration at 

 a high altitude, but this appears to be negatived by the occurrence 

 of the same feature in the Saiga. 



Gazella.* Delicately built and sandy-coloured Antelopes, with 

 lyrate or recurved horns, which may be absent in the female, and 

 are always smaller and simpler in that sex than in the male. Skull 

 with moderate lachrymal fossa, and a distinct lachrymal fissure. 

 Vertebrae : C 7, D 13, L 6, S 4, C 14. Suborbital gland frequently 

 small, and covered with hair. Face with a white streak running 

 from the outer side of the base of each horn nearly down to the 

 upper end of each nostril, cutting off a dark triangular central 



1 Sundevall, Kongl. Velensk. Akad. Handl. for 1845, p. 271. 



2 Gr&ySList Mamm. Brit. Mus. p. 160 (1843). 



3 Hodgson, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1834, p. 81. 



4 De Blainville, Bull. Soc. Philom. 1816, p. 75. Is taken to include Procapra 

 and Tragops. 



