466 
AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 
those of the bongo, this animal being much less specialized 
than the common plains eland, which has lost much of its 
bush coloration and the broad ears which are a mark of such 
environment. 
The skull characters of the Nile race are not determina¬ 
ble at the present time, owing to lack of skulls of the typical 
race from Senegal for comparison. In skull formation the 
species differs greatly from its nearest ally, the common 
eland. It is an eland by horn shape and bodily proportions 
only, its skull structure being quite similar to that of the 
bongo and bushbuck. In agreement with the two latter, it 
has the short nasal and premaxillary bones and the wide 
lachrymal bone so distinctive of them. In the common 
eland these bones are greatly lengthened, giving the animal 
an elongate snout. The Nile eland is intermediate between 
the bongo and the common eland in both color and skull 
characters. These differences in structure and color have 
no doubt been brought about by the gradual effect of the 
plains environment on the common eland which has for¬ 
saken its ancient bush habitat and browsing habits for the 
open plains and a grass diet. Its coloration has reacted to 
this change in environment by becoming paler, less striped, 
and less spotted; its ears have grown narrow; the muzzle 
has become more elongate; the hoofs have lost their pointed 
character and become broad; and the forehead has de¬ 
veloped a great bushy mat of hair. 
In size the giant eland is practically equalled by the com¬ 
mon eland. The subspecific name has reference chiefly to 
the much greater length of the horns, which were the only 
available part of the animal for comparison at the time the 
race was named. The neck is considerably larger and deeper 
and the body somewhat longer than the common eland, which 
it exceeds but slightly in size. In the flesh the largest male 
measured 9 feet 2 inches in length of head and body; the 
tail had a length of 28 inches; the height at the shoulder 
was 5 feet 8 inches; the greatest girth of the neck was 5 feet 
6 inches and the girth of the chest immediately behind the 
foreleg was 8 feet. The adult female nearly equalled these 
dimensions in length and height but was much less in girth 
of neck and chest or bulk of body. The skull of the old 
male, which is the largest, measures in greatest length iS}4 
