The book of antelopes, vol. 4 (of 4)Sclater, Philip Lutley
Science
The book of antelopes, vol. 4 (of 4)
Sclater, Philip Lutley
Antelopes
Height at withers about 38 inches. Colour of head, neck, and body in
winter a tolerably uniform brownish grey; in summer the hairy covering
of the body between the neck and hind-quarters assumes a richer and
redder hue, the head and neck remaining the same throughout the year.
Mane on forehead nearly black, and back of head behind horns darkish
brown; lips and chin white; a broad white stripe on each side of the
face extending from near the middle of the cheek upwards in front of
and above the eye, and usually meeting its fellow of the opposite
side across the upper portion of the nose, though sometimes the union
is interrupted in the middle by the black hairs of the frontal mane.
Ears mostly white, sometimes blackish at the base; an ill-defined
whitish patch sometimes present behind the eye and a black patch on the
lower edge of the cheek close to the neck. Fore legs white, with the
exception of a brown patch on the knee, a brown rim round the false
hoofs, and a tinge of brown which extends downwards on to their upper
portions from the shoulder; a black patch sometimes present between
the shoulder and the throat; the dark colour of the back and flanks
spreads for a short distance on to the hind-quarters; otherwise the
hind-quarters, tail, and hind legs are white, the rump and thighs
being a dirtier white than the legs. As in the case of the front legs,
however, there is a rim of brown hairs round the false hoofs, and the
tail-tuft, when present, is brownish. Belly white. Hairs along middle
of neck sometimes reversed.
The horns attain a length of about 28 inches in a straight line and
about 36 following the spiral.
Skull and horns as described above. The measurements of a skull
are:—Basal length 12 inches, greatest breadth 5·30, muzzle to orbit
8·25.
_Female._ Like the male, but horns thinner.
_Hab._ Desert-regions of North Africa from Dongola to Senegal.
The Addax belongs to the same group of desert-haunting Antelopes as
the species of _Oryx_ of which we have just treated, and is
essentially of the same structure. But it is at once distinguishable by
its spiral horns and expanded hoofs, and may properly be referred to
another genus, which Rafinesque in 1815 seems to have been the first
to call “_Addax_” adopting the name from Pliny and other early
writers. In 1816 De Blainville gave the first scientific description
of this Antelope, calling it _Antilope naso-maculatus_, from
the conspicuous white blaze across the nose. Combining this with the
generic term above mentioned, we obtain “_Addax naso-maculatus_”
as the correct scientific name of this Antelope.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account