300 ON A Ni;W SABLE ANTELOPE FROM ANGOLA. 



of its face-marking, and Mr. Thomas proposed to distinguish it as 

 a new subspecies under the name of 



HiPPOTRAGUS * NIGER VARIANT f. 



Thomas, Abstract P. Z. S. 1916, p. 1 (Feb. 15th). 



The horns of the type measured 57 inches (1445 mm.) in 

 length along the front curve, by 11 inches (280 mm.) in circum- 

 ference at the base, and 27 inches from tip to tip. Their trans- 

 verse ridges, which were extremely well marked, were 47 in 

 number. Good Rhodesian and Nyasa Sable horns were about 

 45 to 50 inches in length, while those of the East African Sa,ble 

 were not known to reach 40 inches. The female horns of 

 H. n. variani wei'e 35 inches (890 mm.) in length by 7 inches 

 (179 mm.) in circumference. 



A skull of this form, which had been lent to Mr. Thomas for 

 comparison, measured 480 mm. in length, 170 mm. in breadth, 

 with an upper tooth-row of 122 mm., these dimensions in a skull 

 of the ordinary Sable being respectively 435, 160, and 114 mm. 



But, apart from its splendid horns, the most striking character 

 of H. n. variani was the practically complete oblitei-ation of the 

 usual prominent white streaks running from the anteorbital 

 white tufts forwards to the sides of the muzzle, the whole of the 

 upper side of the face being therefore deep black, with the 

 exception of the anteorbital tufts themselves, which wei-e white 

 as usual. Along the ordinary positions of the white streaks a 

 few lighter hairs were perceptible, these being rather more 

 numerous in the female. 



The dark parts of the head were of the deepest black, the 

 light parts bufi'y whitish or cream-colour, except the middle line 

 of the interramia, which was white. Occiput mixed black and 

 ferruginous-tawny. Ears, as usual, rich tawny outside, and 

 white within. The face of the female was blackish brown, and 

 the crown and occiput tawny. 



It was with considerable hesitation that Mr. Thomas had only 

 distinguished this Sable as a subspecies, and not as a species, so 

 striking was the difference from ordinary Sables in both horns 

 and marking ; but the presence of light hairs along the usual 

 position of the facial streaks, and the fact that in H. n. kirkii 

 (figured by Matschie as B. n. kauffmanni), the nearest neighbour 

 of H. n. variani, the dark stripes were broader and the light 

 stripes nai-rower than in H. n. niger, showed that these mark- 

 ings were variable and plastic, and did not indicate any really 



* This generic name was used provisioiiallj^ pending the decision of the authori- 

 ties as to the names suggested in 1914 for lixation hy Tiat. Should Sippotragtis 

 be rejected, the technical name of the genus would be still in doubt until the 

 question of the validity of Egocerus, Desm. 1822, nee Aegoceros, Pall. 1811, was 

 settled, a very knotty point. A law covering this latter case had been proposed by 

 the Linnean Society's Committee on Nomenclature in 1906, and submitted to the 

 International Congress, who, however, only accepted it as appb'ing to specific 

 names, a restriction much to be regretted. 



t Type. Face, skin, and frontlet with horns. B.M. 16.2.21.1. 



