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As these striped Elands grow up, Mr. Selous continues, they differ con- 
siderably one from another. Both bull and cow become of a bluish grey as 
their coats become thinner with age, and at a little distance the white stripes 
are often indistinguishable, although as long as there is any hair left they can 
always be seen on close inspection. Also the dark patches on the inner 
sides of the front legs become more faint with age, and in very old animals 
disappear altogether. . 
Mr. Selous also points out that intermediate forms are found between the 
two subspecies of Elands, and that, in fact, there is a complete passage through 
a long series of variations from one form to the other. 
That this is the case is shown clearly by Mr. Selous’s own observations. He 
writes (in the same work) as follows :— 
“In April 1879 I shot some Elands in the Northern Kalahari, between Bamangwato 
and the Botletli River. None of these Elands showed any signs of stripes, but two of 
them had light grey patches on the insides of the fore-legs. About 150 miles farther 
north, however, nearly all the Elands that I shot were more or less striped, though in 
most cases the stripes were so faint that they only became apparent on a close inspection. 
Travelling northwards towards the Chobi River, I found that although Elands were 
still to be met with, on which no stripes could be detected, most of them were more or 
less plainly striped, the patches on the insides of the fore-legs becoming gradually 
darker at the same time. North of the Chobi, and between that river and the Zambesi, 
the Elands, taken as a whole, become well striped, and the dark markings on the insides 
of the fore-legs more and more conspicuous, many individuals being as richly marked as 
the real Taurotragus oryx livingstonii, which was first observed by Dr. Livingstone at 
Sesheke, immediately north of the Central Zambesi. Thus, speaking from my own 
experience, I should say that all the Elands found in South Africa at the present day 
south of the 23rd parallel of latitude are grey Elands (Taurotragus oryx typicus), but 
that north of that parallel of latitude a tendency to show white stripes on each side of 
the body, and dark patches on the insides of the fore-legs, together with a dark median 
line down the centre of the back, from the withers to the tail, commences. I would say 
further that this tendency is at first confined to certain individuals, but becomes more 
general, and the white stripes and dark markings gradually more intensified in 
individuals, as one travels north and north-east, until north of the Zambesi and in 
Mashunaland, and all over South-eastern Africa, all the Elands are striped without 
exception, and all of them show black patches on the insides of the fore-legs and a dark 
mark down the centre of the back, and often a white arrow-shaped mark across the 
nose, as in the Koodoo and Bushbuck.” 
Mr. Bryden and other well-known authorities on the game-animals of 
South Africa entirely confirm Mr. Selous’s observations. 
