COLOURS AND PATTERNS OF MAMMALS 89 



oribis, dik-diks and the reed-bucks, water-bucks and kobs are seldom 

 brightly patterned, and the young are very much like the adults. 

 In the very large family of gazelles the patterns are seldom con- 

 spicuous ; the general coloration is a shade of fawn, lighter below, 

 frequently much darkened on the back, especially in old males, 

 whilst face markings, rump patches and lateral stripes are frequent 

 Where the young differ from the adult, they are almost invariably 

 more uniformly coloured. In the large sable, roan, oryx and beisa 

 antelopes, brilliant secant and ruptive pattern is frequent, the 



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Fig. 23. Young and Adult Banded Duiker Antelope. 

 (After Jentinck.) 



general browns and tawny-reds being interrupted with vivid patches 

 and streaks of black and white. The coloration of the young is 

 much simpler, the general uniformity being little interrupted. The 

 very beautiful tragelaphine antelopes, which include the largest 

 members of the group, show an interesting condition. The 

 males and females are often very different in coloration, the males 

 being much darker, sometimes almost black, whilst the females are 

 usually reddish-brown. Stripes and spots of different kinds are 

 present in so many members of the group that they seem to be an 

 ancestral property. There are often large, rather irregularly placed 

 white spots on the hindquarters, and there may be lines of spots 

 along the flanks, or these may be joined to form continuous stripes. 

 Finally, there may be spots arranged in the form of hoops across the 

 back, but in most cases these rows are actually joined to form bands. 



