ANTELOPES. 
267 
Eland. 
Genus Orias. 
With the large and handsome African animals known as eland, or impofo, we 
come to the first representatives of the extensive group of antelopes, which 
includes the whole of the remain¬ 
ing members of the bovine 
family. Although the term 
antelope is one in common use, 
and most of the members of 
the group are easily recognised, 
yet, owing to the number of 
generic types and the diversity 
of their structure, it is exceed¬ 
ingly difficult to distinguish 
antelopes as a whole from the 
oxen on the one hand and from 
the goats on the other; the 
transition to the former group 
being effected by means of the 
anoa, and to the latter by the 
goat-like antelopes just described. 
Antelopes are, indeed, the most 
generalised members of the pre¬ 
sent family now existing, and 
since they are also its oldest 
known representatives, it is prob¬ 
able that from them have been 
derived the more specialised 
types already treated of, so that 
the above-mentioned transitions 
are precisely what we might naturally expect to occur. 
Characters of As a whole, antelopes are characterised by their graceful build, 
Antelopes. and by the head being carried considerably above the level of the 
back. The horns, which may or may not be present in the females, are generally 
long, more or less cylindrical, and often lyrate in shape; while they are frequently 
marked with prominent rings, and have an upright direction. Their bony internal 
cores, instead of being honeycombed, as in the oxen, sheep, and goats, are nearly 
solid throughout. These animals very generally have a gland beneath the eye, by 
which they are distinguished from the oxen and goats; but, as regards their teeth, 
some of them resemble the oxen, while others approximate to the sheep and goats. 
Antelopes (in the proper sense of the word) are strictly confined 
to the Old World; and by far the greater majority of them are now 
restricted to Africa, with the adjacent regions of Syria and Arabia. Indeed, if we 
except the widely-spread group of gazelles, the only antelopes found beyond those 
head OP bull eland.— After Nicolls and Eglington. 
Distribution. 
