The book of antelopes, vol. 4 (of 4)Sclater, Philip Lutley
Science
The book of antelopes, vol. 4 (of 4)
Sclater, Philip Lutley
Antelopes
In the British Museum there are frontlets of one female and two
male specimens of the Derbian Eland, obtained at the Gambia by the
same collector (Whitfield) and presented by Lord Derby. In the same
collection there is a flat skin brought home by Winwood Reade, and the
head of a female, dried with the skin on, obtained by Dr. Percy Kendall
on the Gambia.
The material available not being, in our opinion, sufficient for the
preparation of a correct figure of the Derbian Eland, we have thought
it best, as our illustration of this Antelope, to copy, on a reduced
scale (Plate C.), the original figures of the Derbian Eland drawn by
Waterhouse Hawkins for plate XXV. of the ‘Gleanings.’
We admit, however, that these are by no means satisfactory, for the
head and legs of the specimens from which the figures were taken are
absent, and the details as to these parts in the figures were probably
filled up from conjecture. Wolf’s figure of the head of Reade’s
specimen in the ‘Proceedings’ is, no doubt, more accurate, but in this
example the legs are likewise deficient.
_April_, 1900.
APPENDIX.
LIST OF THE SPECIES AND SUBSPECIES OF ANTELOPES DESCRIBED AS NEW DURING
THE PROGRESS OF THIS WORK.
Genus BUBALIS. (Vol. I. p. 5.)
Bubalis neumanni.
_Bubalis neumanni_, =Rothschild=, Ann. & Mag. N. H. ser. 6, xx. p. 376
(1897).
Mr. Rothschild has based this species upon two skulls with horns, of
male and female, and parts of a skin obtained by Mr. A. H. Neumann on
the east shore and to the north-east of Lake Rudolf. He describes it as
follows:—
“The horns of this species differ widely from those of _Bubalis
major_ (Blyth), of West Africa, and _B. buselaphus_ (Pall.), of
Northern Africa and Arabia, in being slenderer and in their tips being
inverted, instead of pointing outwards or straight behind. The nearest
ally seems to be _B. tora_ (Gray) of Upper Nubia, Abyssinia, and
Kordofan, which, however, has more slender horns, with more distinct
rings, reaching almost round, a broader forehead, and a generally paler
coloration. The horns also diverge much more in _B. tora_, as
shown at a glance by the distances between the tips of the horns, as
recorded in R. Ward’s ‘Horn Measurements.’
“The horns of _B. neumanni_ measure as follows:—
“Circumference at base, ♂ 273 millim., ♀ 183; total length along the
curves, ♂ 420, ♀ 345; tip to tip, ♂ 206, ♀ 249.
“The rings of the horns are not very prominent and do not reach all
round.
“Breadth of skull at forehead, ♂ 100 millim., ♀ 80; length of skull
from base of horn to upper lip, along the side in a straight line: ♂
430, ♀ 403 millim.
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