290 



UNGULATES. 



by a diffused dark line. 1 The horns, which are generally present in both sexes, 

 are lyrate or recurved and are compressed, oval in section, and completely ringed 



throughout the greater part of their 

 length. The knees are generally 

 furnished with tufts of hair. Glands 

 are present in the feet, and the gland 

 below the eye, if present, is small 

 and covered with hair. Most of the 

 gazelles do not exceed 30 inches in 

 height, although the mohr reaches 

 36 inches. There are about twenty- 

 one living species belonging to the 

 genus Gacella, which are mainly 

 found in the deserts of Asia and 

 North Africa, although the group 

 is represented in South Africa by 

 the springbok. Two of the Asiatic 

 species are found at great eleva- 

 tions. Several species of fossil 

 gazelles occur in the Pleistocene and 

 Pliocene deposits of both Europe 

 and India. 



The existing gazelles may be 

 divided into several groups, accord- 

 ing to coloration and the presence 

 or absence of horns in the females ; 

 and, since the species are so 

 numerous, we shall content our- 

 selves with selecting one from each 

 group for special notice. 

 Our first representative of the genus is the South African 

 springbok (Gazella euchore), which differs from all the other species 

 by the presence of a stripe of long white erectile hairs running down the middle 

 of the back, and also by having only two premolar teeth in the lower jaw. Both 

 sexes are horned. In height the springbok stands about 30 inches, and the black 

 horns are lyrate, with about twenty complete rings, and in the males attain a 

 length of from 10 to 15 inches. The general colour is dark cinnamon -yellow, but 

 there is a dark brown stripe on the flanks dividing the cinnamon colour of the 

 sides from the white of the under-parts, and a dark streak running through the 

 eye. The general distribution of the white is shown in our figure, but it may be 

 remarked that there is more white on the face than in any other species, the dark 

 central area of the forehead being reduced to a small patch below the horns. The 

 snow-white hairs on the back have a length of 3 or 4 inches. 



In eastern South Africa the northern range of the springbok extends to about 

 latitude 20°, its limits being marked by the forests south of the Mababi River ; 



1 These markings are absent in the Tibetan gazelle. 



HEAD OF GRANT'S GAZELLE. 



(From Sir V. Brooke, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1878.) 



DSI 



