BOVID& 349 



resembles Tragelaphus in the greater development of the posterior 

 as compared with the anterior ridge of the horn-cores, and has 

 accordingly been referred to that genus. Protragelaphus, of the 

 Lower Pliocene of Attica, differs from all the other types in the 

 absence of the anterior ridge on the horn -cores and of the 

 supraorbital pits, while it has a distinct lachrymal fossa. 



In this place it will be convenient to notice certain fossil forms 

 which do not accord with any of the existing sections of the family, 

 and for the reception of which the Palceotragine section has been 

 formed. In these types the horn-cores are laterally compressed 

 like those of the modern Goats, but the upper molars resemble those 

 of the brachydont Antelopes. The earliest of these genera, and the 

 first representative of the Antelopes yet known, is Protragoceros, of 

 the Middle Miocene of France, first described as Antilope clavata ; 

 Palceotragoceros and Tragoceros, of the Lower Pliocene, are distin- 

 guished by their larger horns and wider molars. 



A remarkable large Antelope from the Lower Pliocene of the 

 Isle of Samos, in the Turkish Archipelago, proposed to be described 

 as Criotherium, appears to be unlike any other form. The horns, 

 which are placed on the extreme vertex of the skull, are very 

 short, tightly twisted, and project in front of the forehead. The 

 upper molars have short and broad crowns, with no accessory 

 column on the inner side. 



Rupicaprine Section. The Caprine Antelopes, as the typical 

 members of this section may be termed, appear to connect the true 

 Antelopes with the Goats. They are mostly small or medium- 

 sized forms, inhabiting portions of the Palsearctic and Oriental 

 regions, with one outlying North American genus. The typical 

 forms present the following features. Horns present, and of nearly 

 equal size in both sexes, rising behind the orbits, short, ringed at 

 the base, conical or somewhat compressed, and recurved. Sub- 

 orbital gland generally present, in some cases small. Build clumsy ; 

 hoofs large ; tail short, tapering, hairy above. Skull with lachrymal 

 fossa, but no fissure. Molars as in the Caprine section. 



Rupicapra. 1 Horns short and cylindrical, rising perpendicularly 

 from the forehead for some distance, then bending sharply back- 

 wards and downwards, forming hooks with pointed tips. Premaxillae 

 not reaching the nasals. One species, Palsearctic. 



The Gemse, or Alpine Chamois (R. tragus), inhabits the high 

 mountains of Europe from the Pyrenees to the Caucasus. It stands 

 about 2 feet in height at the withers. The body is covered in 

 winter with long hair of a chestnut-brown colour, that of the head 

 being paler, with a dark brown streak on each side. At other 

 seasons the colour is somewhat lighter, in spring approaching 

 to gray. Underneath the external covering the body is further 

 1 De Blainville, Bull. Soc. Philom. 1816, p. 75. 



