| OCR Text |
Show 806 ON MAMMALS FROM NORTH-EASTERN AFRICA. [Nov. 20, of hairs at the base of the horns in all of them, and that there was no lateral stripe in specimens of any age. The presence of the boss from which the tuft of hair grows up at the base of the horns is of course normally a character of youth, and is especially marked in the youthful type of O. g.petersi figured by Peters *. In the present case, however, this character is kept until old age (just as happens in the Reedbuck), for not only is the type skull fully adult, as shown by the teeth, but Capt. Ferguson's Lumian skull is quite aged. Yet both clearly show the boss, and have the horns sloping back away from it. The characters and ranges of tbe four subspecies of G. granti that I should recognize may be briefly epitomized as follows:-- C. granti tgpica.-Horns long, more or less lyrate. Lateral stripe present in youth. Pygal band well-marked. White on top of rump passing right over root of tail.-Interior of East Africa, from the Boran Galla country to Ugogo. G. g. petersi.-Horns more parallel. Colour of back passing on to tail, and dividing the white rump-patch.-Coast districts of East Africa. G. g. smithi.-Horns shorter. No lateral stripe at any age. Pygal band very small. White of rump undivided. Growth-boss of horn retained to adult life.-Country between Lake Rudolf and Nile. G. g. notata.-Fur comparatively long. Lateral markings and pygal band very strong and black.-Hill-country S. and S.E. of Rudolf. Lorogbi Mts. (Neumann); Turquel (Ferguson); Gessima (Delamere). 22. GAZELLA THOMSONI Giinth. a. 6. 90 miles E. of Lado, on 4° 40' N., 20 Feb., 1900. (134.) This is the most northern point from which G. thomsoni has been recorded. 23. TRAGELAPHUS SCRIPTUS BOB. S 2 • Skin and skull. 80 miles E. of Lado, 22 Feb., 1900. (139, 140.) These specimens show that the Busbbuck of the Upper Nile, to which Heuglin gave the provisional name of Tragelaphus bor2, and which is referred to in the' Book of Antelopes's under T. decula, is really a tenable subspecies of T. scriptus. The following is a description of Dr. Donaldson Smith's specimens :- Female more abundantly marked than male. Neck well-haired, not mostly short-haired as in T. s. fasciatus. White markings of limbs well-developed as usual, not obsolete as in T. delamereii. Male. General colour of back pale brownish. Dark nuchal line 1 MB. Ak. Berl. 1879, p. 832, pi. v. 2 Keise N.O.-Afr. ii. p. 122 (1877). 3 iv. p. 107 (1900). * The type of T. delamerei, Pocock, proves, on the recovery of its skull, which had been mislaid, to be quite young ; not subadult, as was stated in the original description. |
