PRONGBUCK. GIRAFFES. 



47 



Fig. 33. 



The Pronghorn Antelope or Prong-buck (Antilocapra americand). 



The Giraffes and the Okapi of Africa are the sole living ["East 

 representatives of a family of Ruminants (Gir officio) Cases 01 



Giraffes. 

 Family 



Giraffidse. distinguished by the double-lobed crowns of the outer- to 



• XXIII 1 



most of the four pairs of lower front teeth (fig. 38, A), corresponding * J 



to the canines of carnivorous mammals. Their nearest affinities are 



with the Deer. Giraffes (Giraffa) — the tallest of all mammals — 



have a pair of conical horns covered with skin on the crown of the 



head, a shorter horn in the middle of the forehead, and in some cases 



a pair of rudimentary horns at the hinder extremity of the skull. 



The young have tufts of hair in place of the horns, and a 



dark patch of hair where the middle horn subsequently grows. 



Apart from the very distinct Somali Giraffe (Gir off a reticulata, 



1254, fig. 35, A), characterised by its liver-red colour marked with 



a very coarse network of fine lines^ there are numerous local forms 



of the ordinary Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis, 1255). The 



northern races, such as the Nubian G. c. typica and the Kordofan 



G. c. antiquorum, are characterised by the large frontal horn 



