External Characters of Ruminant Artiodactyla. 219 



Loanberg (K. Vet.-Akad. Ilandl. xxxv. no. 3 (1901) ; 

 Arkiv. Zool. v. no. 10, p. 21 (1909)) was of o[)inion that the 

 Gnus are pliylogeuetically related to the Boviute, the latter 

 being the descendants of antelopes closely akin to Conno- 

 ch<etes and Gorgon. It appears to me, however, to be certain 

 that the Gnus must be regarded as highly specialised forms 

 oi Bubalis; but I cannot admit that the latter are in any 

 way nearly affiliated to any form of Bubaliate. The evidence, 

 on the other hand, that the Eovinge are specialised Tragela- 

 phinse is, in my opinion, complete. 



^ The usually recorded differences between the Gnus and 

 Hartebeests in cranial and conmal characters are well known. 

 Using the muzzle as a basis the two groups may be distin- 

 guished as follows : — 

 a. Muzzle comparatively narrow; rhiuarium 



cleaving the upper lip approximately to its 



inferior edge, its depth about half its' width, 



its surface roughened and reticulated ; no 



pouches in the internarial septum within the 



nostril Bubalis, Damaliscus. 



a'. Muzzle comparatively very broad ; rhina- 



rium not extending to inferior edge of 



upper lip, its depth less than half its width, 



its surface transversely striated ; a pair of 



pouches penetrating the interaarial septum 



within the nostrils Connoc/u^tes, Gordon 



The Bubalinffi constitute a compact group of Bovidae 

 showing comparatively slight range of variation so far as the 

 external features dealt with in this paper are concerned. The 

 muzzle is expanded, the rhinarium is reduced, the nostrils 

 are valvular and lined within the orifice with longish hair 

 for the exclusion of foreign bodies. The preorbital gland 

 is large and is either provided with a narrow duct-like in- 

 vagination {Damaliscus, Bubalis) or has a flat, slightly convex 

 or slightly concave surface (Connochcetes, Gorgon). Inguinal 

 glands are absent, and there is normally, at all events, a 

 single pair of mammae. Pedal glands are well developed 

 only on the fore feet, where they consist of a long deep 

 interdigital pouch with a long orifice, but not so long as in 

 the Antilopiuce, on the front of the pastern. In the hind 

 feet this gland is aborted and represented merely by a 

 shallow depression. The penis at most has a short tubular 

 urethral prolongation. 



Subfamily OsTGiy^. 

 Genus Oryx, Blainville. 

 My account of the cutaneous glands of this genus pub- 

 lished in 1910 was based upon an examination of dried skins 



