South Dakota School of Mines 73 



Continuing the illustration the scientific name of the tiger 

 is Felis tigris Linnaeus ; of the Ox, Bos taurus Linnaeus ; of 

 man, Homo sapiens Linnaeus. These names are simple enough 

 when once understood and indeed many names we now look 

 upon as common have been transferred bodily from the scien- 

 tific generic nomenclature, as for example, rhinoceros, hippo- 

 potamus, bison, and mastodon. 



It is well known that the common names by which animals 

 now living are designated are often not sufficiently accurate. 

 The name in order to be properly useful must be sufficiently 

 distinctive to indicate clearly the animal to which reference is 

 made. For example, there are five existing species of rhinocer- 

 oses, the clear definition of which by common names is perhaps 

 difficult enough, to say nothing of the 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, 

 Rhincerotoidea. Again sometimes the common name is decep- 

 tive. For example the well known "pronghorn" antelope, An- 

 tilocapra americana, of our western plains is really not an 

 antelope at all* True antelopes at the present day inhabit only 

 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, 

 vaterbucks, duickerboks, saigas, etc. Several of these are sub- 

 divided. For example the duickerboks alone are credited with 

 thirty eight species. If, therefore, we are going to name ani- 

 mals in conformity with their recognized distinctions, and for 

 clearness of conception 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 expression 

 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 



*For a recent discussion of the classification of the antelope the 

 reader is referred to the following papers: 



Beddard, F. E. (Mammalia. 1902. 



Grant, Madison. The Origin and Relationship of the Large Mam- 

 mals of North America. N. Y. Zoological Society. Eighth Ann. Rept. 

 190 4, p,p. 2 6-27. • 



Lyon, M. W. Remarks on the Horns and on the Systematic 

 Position of the American Antelope. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. 3 4, 

 pp. 393-402. 



