AND DESERTS 127 
absent from savanas, and the weasel group is not well 
represented there. Among the few weasel-like forms 
we may note the South African weasel (Poecilogale) and 
the Cape polecat (Ictonyx). The latter has a somewhat 
wide distribution in Africa, and differs from martens 
and polecats in that it is unable to climb. It has 
a peculiar resemblance to the American skunks, and 
like them is protected from possible enemies by its very 
offensive odour. The animals feed upon small mammals 
and birds, lizards, and frogs, and are found in rocky 
districts. 
It is when we come to the ungulates, however, that 
we find the most specialized and abundant of the 
animals of the African savana. In the reedy swamps 
throughout the greater part of the continent occurs the 
so-called Cape buffalo (Bos caffer), which is replaced in 
the regions richer in trees by the short-horned buffalo 
(Bos pumilus). Both live in herds, and do not volun- 
tarily quit the vicinity of water, in which they love to 
bathe. The young are born in the warmer season, and 
there is never more than one calf at a birth. It is 
hidden by the mother among long grass, and for about 
ten days after its birth the mother separates from the 
herd, and remains within easy reach of her young, 
which she visits at short intervals. This habit speaks to 
life in regions where cover is always obtainable, and is in 
striking distinction to the habits of the mountain ungu- 
lates (cf. p. 75), where the young must be able to 
travel with the herd very shortly after birth. 
As we have repeatedly stated, it is the antelopes 
which characterize specially the savanas of Africa, 
the diversity of species being as remarkable as the 
number of individuals, till man interfered. In several 
points of structure antelopes are more primitive than 
