THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES.
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES.
INTRODUCTION.
The Authors of the present work have no intention of offering to their readers a complete scientific treatise on the Mammals of the FamilyBovidæor on any section of it. Their main object is to furnish descriptive letterpress for the beautiful series of lithographic plates drawn some twenty years ago under the supervision of the late SirVictor Brooke, making thereto such necessary modifications and additions as the progress of science demands. This letterpress, however, will contain a full synonymy of all the species of Antelopes recognized as valid, whether here figured or not, together with such descriptions as will facilitate their identification, and all particulars concerning their habits and distribution that have been recorded by Naturalists and Sportsmen up to the present time.
As regards the Nomenclature and Systematic Arrangement to be employed in the present work, we think it sufficient to follow those adopted by Sir William Flower and Mr. Lydekker in their standard work on Mammals,with a few slight modifications. These authors have divided the FamilyBovidæ, to which the Antelopes pertain, into nine different groups, called sections, which are denominated as follows:—
1. Alcelaphine Section.2. Cephalophine Section.3. Cervicaprine Section.4. Antilopine Section.5. Hippotragine Section.6. Tragelaphine Section.7. Rupicaprine Section.8. Caprine Section.9. Bovine Section.
The Antelopes, commonly so called, belong to the first six of these sections, and will form the subject of the present work, the last three sections, which contain the Mountain-Antelopes, Sheep, and Oxen, being excluded.
It is further considered to be more convenient to regard the sections of Messrs. Flower and Lydekker as subfamilies, and to give them the usual termination employed for such groups. Thus, after dividing the “Cephalophine Section” into two portions, which it seems desirable to do, we shall have altogether seven subfamilies ofBovidæto be treated of, viz.:—