74 THE WHITE RIVER BADLANDS 



score or more of fossil forms besides a still larger number 

 of extinct animals closely allied to the rhinoceroses and 

 falling under the general Class, Rhinocerotoidae. Again 

 sometimes the common name is deceptive. For example the 

 well known pronghorn antelope, Antilocapra americana, of 

 our western plains is considered by some zoologists as not 

 being an antelope at all. On the other hand our Rocky 

 Mountain goat Oreanus Montanus is a member of the true 

 antelope family. True antelopes at the present day inhabit 

 chiefly Europe, Asia and Africa. They include many 

 species, the better known ones being designated in common 

 speech as hartebeests, gnus, elands, gazelles, klipspringers, 

 gemsbocks, springboks, waterbucks, duickerboks, saigas, 

 etc. Several of these are subdivided. For example the 

 duickerboks alone are credited with thirty-eight species. If, 

 therefore, we are going to name animals in conformity with 

 their recognized distinctions, and for clearness of concep- 

 tion there is generally no alternative, then the various 

 duickerbok species must each be given a name — thirty-eight 

 in all. Thus antelope being in reality a misnomer here in 

 this country and losing much of its distinctive significance 

 even in the old world, becomes little more than a loose ex- 

 pression for a great group of animals, some of them no 

 larger than a jack-rabbit, and others comparable in size to 

 a horse. 



Generally, in designating the species, the words of the 

 scientific name refer to some important character, or they 

 express some relationship or resemblance, or indicate some 

 fact of distribution or discovery. Sometimes the meaning 

 is obscure in which case it may be necessary to consult the 

 work of the original author for the interpretation. Often, 

 however, the name needs little explanation other than that 

 given by a good comprehensive dictionary. 



The generic names are usually of classic origin, most of 

 them being Latinized forms of Greek names. They may be 

 either simple or compound words and they often have 

 modifying or descriptive prefixes or suffixes. The specific 

 names show a somewhat wider latitude of origin than the 

 generic names. Sometimes they are geographical, sometimes 

 personal, oftentimes descriptive. The following names of 

 badland fossils may serve to illustrate the principle: 

 Procamelus occidentalis Leidy, an ancestral camel of the 



