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Show 1875.] SIR VICTOR BROOKE ON AFRICAN BUFFALOES. 457 BUBALUS AQUINOCTIALIS. 1866. Bubalus coffer, var. aquinoctialis, Blyth, P. Z. S. p. 371, figs. 1 & la. 1872. Bubalus centralis, Gray, Cat. Rum. M a m m . Brit. Mus. p. 11. 1873. Bubalus pumilus b. stirps orientalis, Brooke, P. Z. S. pp. 480, 483, pl. xiii. Hair coarse and scanty, longest along the ridge of the back and under surface of the head, general colour of the entire animal uniform blackish brown, slightly tinged with rufous on the sides and flanks. Tail bare, terminal tuft black. Ear-conches fringed with long brown hair, longest in females. Horns short, not greatly exceeding the skull in length, separate at their bases, which are very much flattened, spreading almost horizontally outwards, and retreating but slightly from the plane of the eyes. Height at the shoulder 50". General range. North-eastern Africa. Typical specimens of Bubalus aquinoctialis may be distinguished from typical specimens of Bubalus caffer :- 1. By the smaller size of the former. 2. Adult specimens oi Bubalus caffer axe much blacker than similar specimens of Bubalus aquinoctialis. • 3. The horns of Bubalus aquinoctialis are flattened at the base and short; those of Bubalus cafer are boldly convex and of great size. 4. In the very different direction of the horns in the two species. BUBALUS CAFFER (Sparm.). Hair scanty, general colour of the entire animal black. Horns very large, their length exceeding twice that of the skull, declining greatly from the horizontal and dipping boldly downwards and backwards ; their basal anterior surfaces raised into immense convex bosses. Height at the shoulder about 59". General range. Africa south of the Equator. Conclusion. In conclusion I would simply say that although for the present it seems to me decidedly advisable to regard the three forms of African Buffaloes as distinct species, each known by a separate name, I am fully aware of the slender basis upon which their distinctive characteristics rest. I have, indeed, already seen specimens of Buffaloes from the Upper Zambesi of strikingly intermediate characters between Bubalus caffer and Bubalus aquinoctialis. Between this latter form and Bubalus pumilus the difference of external characters appears to signify a wider breach ; but that these superficial differences may be found deceptive is, I think, rendered probable by the very remarkable gradation of characters exhibited in a large series of skulls, the gradation of characters taking place more or less step by step with the gradual spread of the animals over their geographical range. |