288 SEXUAL SELECTION : MAMMALS. [Part II. 



the striped coat of the tiger " so assimilates with the ver- 

 tical stems of the bamboo, as to assist greatly in conceal- 

 ing him from his approaching prey." But this view does 

 not appear to me satisfactory. We have some slight evi- 

 di'nce that his beauty may be due to sexual selection, for 

 in two species of Felis analogous marks and colors are 

 rather brighter in the male than in the female. The Zebra 

 is conspicuously striped, and stripes on the open plains of 

 South Africa cannot afford any protection. BurchelP' in 

 describing a herd says, " Their sleek ribs glistened in the 

 sun, and the brightness and regularity of their striped 

 coats presented a picture of extraordinary beauty, in which 

 probably they are not surpassed by any other quadruped." 

 Here we have no evidence of sexual selection, as through- 

 out the whole group of the Equidie, the sexes are identical 

 in color. Nevertheless, he who attributes the white and 

 dark vertical stripes on the flanks of various antelopes to 

 sexual selection, will probably extend the same view to 

 the Royal Tiger and beautiful Zebra. 



We have seen in a former chapter that when young 

 animals belonging to any class follow nearly the same 

 habits of life with their parents, and yet are colored in a 

 difterent manner, it may be inferred that they have re- 

 tained the coloring of some ancient and extinct progeni- 

 tor. In the family of pigs, and in the genus Tapir, the 

 young are marked with longitudinal stripes, and thus 

 difter from every existing adult species in these two 

 groups. With many kinds of deer the young are marked 

 with elegant white spots, of which their parents exhibit 

 not a trace. A graduated series can be followed from the 

 Axis deer, both sexes of which at all ages and during all 

 seasons are beautifully spotted (the male being rather 

 more strongly colored than the female) — to species in 

 which neither the old nor the young are spotted. I will 



»» 'Travels in South Africa,' 1824, vol. ii. p. 315. 



