Zool. fasc. i. p. 8 (1767), fasc. xii. p. 13 (1777); =Müll.=
Natursyst. Suppl. p. 53 (1776); =Erxl.= Syst. R. A. p. 280
(1777); =Zimm.= Spec. Zool. Geogr. p. 541 (1777); =id.= Geogr.
Gesch. ii. p. 114 (1780); =Gatt.= Brev. Zool. i. p. 81 (1780);
=Herm.= Tabl. Affin. Anim. p. 108 (1783); =Schreb.= Säug. pl.
cclxiv. (1785); =Bodd.= Elench. Anim. p. 141 (1785); =Gmel.=
Linn. S. N. i. p. 183 (1788); =Kerr=, Linn. An. K. p. 308
(1792); =Donnd.= Zool. Beytr. i. p. 623 (1792); =Link=, Beytr.
Nat. ii. p. 98 (1795); =Bechst.= Syst. Uebers. vierf. Th. ii. p.
643 (1800); =Shaw=, Gen. Zool. ii. pt. 2, p. 359 (1801); =Turt.=
Linn. S. N. i. p. 112 (1802); =G. Cuv.= Dict. Sci. Nat. ii. p.
243 (1804); =Desm.= N. Dict. d’H. N. (1) xv. p. 334, xxiv. Tabl.
p. 32 (1804); =Tiedem.= Zool. i. p. 408 (1808); =Licht.= Mag.
nat. Freund. vi. p. 170 (1814); =G. Fisch.= Zoogn. iii. p. 409
(1814); =Afz.= N. Act. Ups. vii. p. 220 (1815); =Desm.= N. Dict.
d’H. N. (2) ii. p. 189 (1816); =G. Cuv.= R. A. i. p. 263 (1817);
=Goldf.= Schr. Säug. v. p. 1199 (1818); =Schinz=, Cuv. Thierr.
i. p. 394 (1821); =Desm.= Mamm. ii. p. 458 (1822); =H. Sm.=
Griff. An. K. iv. p. 206, v. p. 330 (1827); =Less.= Man. Mamm.
p. 375 (1827); =J. B. Fisch.= Syn. Mamm. p. 463 (1829); =Less.=
Compl. Buff. x. p. 288 (1836); =Oken=, Allg. Nat. vii. p. 1375
(1838); =Laurill.= Dict. Univ. d’H. N. i. p. 616 (1839); =Less.=
N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 177 (1842); =Reichenb.= Säug. iii. p.
115 (1845).
_Cerophorus (Cervicapra) dama_, =Blainv.= Bull. Soc. Philom.
1816, p. 75.
_Cemas dama_, =Oken=, Lehrb. Nat. iii. pt. 2, p. 741 (1816).
_Gazella dama_, =Gray=, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 231
(1846); =id.= Knowsl. Men. p. 5 (1850); =id.= P. Z. S. 1850, p.
114; =Scl.= List An. Z. S. (8) p. 142 (1883); =Kohl=, Ann. Mus.
Wien, i. p. 79, pl. v. fig. 2 (skull) (1886) (partim); =Ward=,
Horn Meas. (1) p. 116 (1892), (2) p. 158 (1896).
_Antilope (Dama) nanguer_, =Benn.= P. Z. S. 1833, p. 2; =id.=
Trans. Z. S. i. p. 7 (1833); =Gerv.= Dict. Sci. Nat. Suppl. i.
p. 261 (1840); =Less.= N. Tabl. R. A., Mamm. p. 177 (1842).
_Gazella nanguer_, =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 158 (1869).
_Antilope mhorr_, var. β, =Wagn.= Schr. Säug. Suppl. iv. p. 410
(1844), v. p. 404 (1855).
_Gazella mohr_, =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 39 (1872) (partim);
=Brooke=, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 648 (partim).
_Antilope dama_, var. _occidentalis_, =Sund.= Pecora, K.
Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1845, p. 266 (1847); =id.= Hornschuch’s Transl.,
Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 262; Reprint, p. 82 (1848).
VERNACULAR NAME:--_Nanguer_ in Senegal (_Buffon_).
Size about as in _G. ruficollis_ and _G. mhorr_. Markings throughout
very much as in the next species, _Gazella mhorr_, but the white of the
rump-patch, although less than in _G. ruficollis_, where it spreads all
over the body, is considerably more extended, uniting on the thighs
with the white of the sides of the belly, and therefore cutting off the
dark colour of the outer sides of the hind limbs from that of the back.
Other characters very much as in _G. mhorr_.
_Hab._ Senegal and Gambia.
Passing now to the western end of Northern Africa we find this group
of Antelopes represented by the “Dama” Gazelle, a species which has
been known to naturalists ever since the time of Buffon. By him it
was described and figured in the twelfth volume of his ‘Histoire
Naturelle,’ under the name of “_Le Nanguer_” the appellation stated by
Adanson to be given to it in Senegal. Upon the “Nanguer” of Buffon,
Pallas in 1766 established his _Antilope dama_, so that there can
be no question as to _Gazella dama_ being the correct name of the
representative species of this group in Senegal. But whether Pallas was
right in assigning the term “_dama_” of Pliny to the present animal
is a matter open to much question. The late Mr. E. T. Bennett has
discussed this subject in his article on the Mhorr Antelope published
in the first volume of the Zoological Society’s ‘Transactions,’ to
which we may refer our readers. But there can be little doubt that the
ordinary “_Dama_” of the Romans was not the present animal, but the
well-known Fallow-Deer, _Cervus dama_.
For many years the naturalists following Buffon and Pallas gave us
no further information concerning this Antelope, and merely copied
what their predecessors had said of it. Sundevall, in his well-known
treatise on the “Pecora,” united the three members of this group
together under “_Antilope dama_,” designating the forms of Morocco
and Senegal as “var. _occidentalis_,” and stating that he had examined
a specimen of it in the Frankfort Museum. If the locality and the
references given by Rüppell in his catalogue of the Senckenbergian
Collection are correct, the specimen in that collection must be the
“Mhorr” of Morocco, and not the “Nanguer” of Senegal. We are told by
Gray (‘Gleanings from the Knowsley Menagerie,’ p. 5) that the Frankfort
specimen was originally received from the Zoological Society of London.
Among the numerous Antelopes procured from the Gambia for the Derby
Menagerie by Lord Derby’s agent Whitfield were several examples of
this species. Dr. Gray, in the letterpress to the ‘Gleanings,’ tells
us that at the time of his writing (April 1850) there was a fine male
of _Gazella dama_ living at Knowsley, and that a female, procured
by the same collector, which died on its passage home, was preserved
in the British Museum. This specimen, a skin of an immature animal, is
still in the Museum, to which it was presented by the Earl of Derby,
and, strange to say, is still the only example of this Antelope in the
National Collection.
In 1865 a pair of this Gazelle (as recorded in the Society’s
‘Proceedings,’ 1865, p. 675) were acquired by the Zoological Society
of London, from the Zoological Gardens, Antwerp. About the same period
Sclater recollects having seen other examples of this Antelope in the
Antwerp Gardens, but does not remember to have noticed them in any
other of the continental Gardens which he has visited from time to time
for many years.
In some MS. notes on the Antelopes of the Gambia which Sir Robert
Llewelyn, K.C.M.G., the Governor of the Colony, has kindly sent to
Sclater, “the Springbuck,” or “Kongko-tong” of the Mandingos, is stated
to be “common all over the south bank of the river.” This “Springbuck”
can be hardly any other Antelope than the present species. If such is
the case, it is remarkable that a beautiful animal, so abundant in a
British Colony a few days’ steam from our shores, should be still so
little known in our Museums and Menageries.
_September,_ 1898.
[Illustration:
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXXII.
_Wolf del. J. Smit lith._ _Hanhart imp._
The Mhorr Gazelle.
GAZELLA MHORR.
_Published by R. H. Porter._]
106. THE MHORR GAZELLE.
GAZELLA MHORR (BENN.).
[PLATE LXXII.]
_Nanguer_, =F. Cuv.= H. N. Mamm. (fol.) iv. livr. 67 (1833)
(_nec_ Buff.).
_Antilope (Dama) mhorr_, =Benn.= P. Z. S. 1833, p. 1 (Mogador);
=id.= Tr. Z. S. i. p. 7, pl. i. (1833); =Gerv.= Dict. Sci. Nat.
Supp. i. p. 261 (1840).
_Antilope mhorr_, =Waterh.= Cat. Mamm. Mus. Z. S. (2) p. 41
(1838); =Rüpp.= Verz. Senck. Mus. p. 38 (1842); =Wagn.= Schr.
Säug. Supp. iv. p. 410 (1844) (partim); =Reichenb.= Säug. iii.
p. 116, pl. xxxv. fig. 212 (1845); =Schinz=, Syn. Mamm. ii. p.
426 (1845); =id.= Mon. Antil. p. 25, pl. xxvi. (1848).
_Nanger mhorr_, =Lataste=, Mamm. Barb. (Act. Soc. Linn. Bord.
xxxix.) sep. cop. p. 173 (1885).
_Antilope mhoks_, =Less.= Compl. Buff. x. p. 288 (1836).
_Gazella mohr_, =Gray=, Ann. Mag. N. H. (1) xviii. p. 231
(1846); =id.= Knowsl. Men. p. 5 (1850); =id.= P. Z. S. 1850,
p. 114; =id.= Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 59 (1852); =Gerr.= Cat. Bones
Mamm. B. M. p. 233 (1862); =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 158
(1869); =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 39 (1872); =id.= Hand-l. Rum.
B. M. p. 108 (1873); =Brooke=, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 548 (in part.);
=Kohl=, Ann. Mus. Wien, i. p. 78 (1886); =Flow. & Lyd.= Mamm. p.
342 (1891); =Jent.= Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, xi.)
p. 168 (1892); =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 235 (1893).
_Gazella mohrr_, =Temm.= Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 193 (1853).
VERNACULAR NAME:--_Mhorr_, in Morocco (_Bennett_).
Size large, height of a male not fully adult 35½ inches. General
colour dull rufous or rufous-fawn, becoming a deeper and richer
rufous anteriorly. Face, cheeks, and chin whitish or whitish-fawn,
the forehead beneath the horns and an inconspicuous dark cheek-streak
blackish. Neck deep rufous, a conspicuous white spot on its front
surface. No dark or light lateral bands present, nor pygal bands.
White of belly extending rather high up on the sides, the line of white
passing across the outer sides of the forearms on to the chest, where
it contrasts conspicuously with the dark red of the neck. White of rump
much as in _G. soemmerringi_, including the tail, and extending
angularly forwards on each side into the body-colour, but not uniting
with the belly-colour across the outer sides of the thighs. All the
boundary-lines between the rufous and white well defined. Knee-brushes
small. Tail white, a small brownish or fawn-coloured tuft at its
extremity.
Horns of male thick, strongly bent backwards below, recurved upwards
and forwards above.
_Female._ Similar to the male, but horns shorter and thinner.
_Hab._ South-western Morocco.
The last species of the group, and also of the genus _Gazella_, is
the Mhorr, the Moroccan representative of the Dama Gazelle, to which,
as we have already stated, it is very closely allied. Indeed, we have
not inconsiderable doubts as to their real specific distinctness.
Southern Morocco and Senegal approach so nearly together that it is not
likely _prima facie_ that the Gazelles of their deserts would be
specifically different.
The well-known zoologist, Mr. E. T. Bennett, who was Secretary to the
Zoological Society of London in its early days, was the first describer
of the “M’horr” as distinct from _Gazella dama_, and brought
his account of it before a Meeting of that Society on January 8th,
1833. His full memoir on this subject was afterwards published in the
Society’s ‘Transactions,’ where it occupies the first pages of the
first volume of that standard work.
Bennett’s observations were made on two specimens of this Gazelle which
were presented, while living, to the Zoological Society by Mr. E. W.
A. Drummond-Hay, C.M.Z.S., then British Consul-General at Tangier, for
whom they had been procured by Mr. E. W. Willshire, C.M.Z.S., British
Vice-Consul at Mogador. Bennett also had before him a third specimen
in the shape of an imperfect skin of this Antelope, also presented
to the Society by Mr. Drummond-Hay. All these specimens are stated
to have been brought “from the territories of the Sheik of Wednoon,
twelve days’ journey inland from the latter place”; but, in spite of
the expression “inland,” we suppose “Ouednoon,” as it should be more
correctly written, to be the valley of the River Noon in the extreme
southern coast district of Morocco, opposite the Canary Islands.
In the article in question, which is accompanied by an excellent
coloured figure of the “M’hoor,” Bennett informs us that this Antelope
“is regarded in the kingdom of Morocco as an exceedingly rare animal,”
and continues as follows:--
“Mr. Willshire states that the one earliest obtained by him was
the first individual of the race which had been seen in Mogador.
It is highly esteemed, according to Mr. Drummond-Hay, on account
of its producing the bezoars, so precious in Oriental medicine,
which are known in Morocco as the Baid-al-Mhorr, or eggs of the
M’horr. Mr. Hay conjectures that Baid-Mhorr may possibly be the
source whence, rather than from the Persian Pazahar, the name of
Bezoar has sprung. It is pretended that two of these calculous
concretions are met with in the intestines of every individual
of the race, but none were found in that which died in the
Society’s collection, and which, as is stated by Mr. Spooner
and Mr. Langstaff, who examined it after death, agreed in its
visceral anatomy with the Antelopes in general.”
About the same time as the Zoological Society’s specimens arrived in
England it would appear that living examples of the same Antelope
reached the Jardin des Plantes at Paris. One of these, an immature
female, was figured by Geoffrey St.-Hilaire and F. Cuvier on the 375th
plate of their ‘Histoire Naturelle des Mammifères.’ In the letterpress
accompanying this plate we are informed that two young living examples
(male and female) had been received there, and that the female had
lived in good health for two years without changing her colour, only
varying in the size of her body and in the shape of her horns. The
authors inform us that when the “Nanguers” arrived at Paris they had
only very short horns, about 4 or 5 inches in length, which were at
that period strongly and uniformly curved towards the front. The male
having died when young did not change the character of his horns, but
those of the female having had time to develop became recurved behind
and divergent one from the other. These Gazelles had neither tear-bags
nor knee-brushes. When the figure was drawn the female stood about 2
feet 10 inches in height, but seemed to be not fully grown.
The authors of the ‘Histoire Naturelle des Mammifères’ refer these
specimens to the “Nanguer” of Buffon, and do not say from what country
they were received, but from their figure and description there can be
no doubt that they belonged to the _Gazella mhorr_ of Morocco and
not to the true _G. dama_ of Senegal, if these two species are
held to be distinct.
The only example of _Gazella mhorr_ in the British Museum is the
mounted adult male from Morocco presented to the Zoological Society by
Mr. Willshire in 1833, and formerly in that Society’s collection. It is
no doubt the specimen from which Bennett’s figure in the ‘Transactions’
was taken, and is also, we believe, the original of our illustration
(Plate LXXII.), which was put upon the stone by Mr. Smit under the
direction of the late Sir Victor Brooke. Further information concerning
this and other animals of Southern Morocco is much required, but until
the present political conditions of that country are altered we are
hardly likely to obtain it.
_September,_ 1898.
GENUS VII. AMMODORCAS.
Type.
_Ammodorcas_, =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1891, p. 207 A. CLARKEI.
Size medium, about as in middle-sized Gazelles. Neck slender and rather
elongated, but not so much as that of _Lithocranius_. Tail long,
reaching nearly to the hocks. No Gazelline body-markings present, but
the head with typically Gazelline streaks and bands. False hoofs small.
Skull long and low, approaching in shape that of _Lithocranius_,
but less modified. Shallow anteorbital fossæ present. Premaxillæ
reaching nasals. Premolars 3/3, the anterior in each jaw unusually
small.
Horns of medium length, evenly divergent, curved upwards and forwards
throughout their length, except just at their bases. Female hornless.
_Range of the Genus._ Restricted to Somaliland.
One species only.
[Illustration:
THE BOOK OF ANTELOPES, PL. LXXIII.
_J Smit del et lith_ _Hanhart imp._
The Dibatag.
AMMODORCAS CLARKEI.
_Published by R. H Porter_]
107. THE DIBATAG.
AMMODORCAS CLARKEI (THOS.).
[PLATE LXXIII.]
_Cervicapra clarkei_, =Thos.= Ann. Mag. N. H. (6) vii. p. 304
(1891).
Gazelle from Somaliland allied to _Lithocranius_, =Scl.= P. Z.
S. 1891, p. 197.
_Ammodorcas clarkei_, =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1891, p. 207, pls. xxi.
& xxii. (head and skull); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1892, p. 101; =Ward=,
Horn Meas. (1) p. 128 (1892), (2) p. 173 (1896); =Lyd.= Horns
and Hoofs, p. 240 (1893); =Scl.= P. Z. S. 1892, pp. 101 & 118;
=Swayne=, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 318 (habits); =id.= Seventeen Trips
to Somaliland, p. 310 (1895); =Hoyos=, Zu den Aulihan, p. 181
(1895); =Elliot=, Publ. Chicago Mus., Zool. i. p. 124 (1897).
VERNACULAR NAME:--_Dibatag_ of Somalis (_Clarke_, _Swayne_, _and
others_).
Height at withers about 31 inches. General colour of body dark purplish
rufous, no dark or light lateral or pygal bands present. Head with
handsome sharply-defined Gazelline markings; the central facial band
rich fulvous rufous, no darker spot on muzzle; light facial streaks
long, sharply defined, and extending to the sides of the muzzle, pure
white; areas round eyes and ears also whitish, though not sharply
defined, connected with each other and continuous with the white facial
streaks. Dark facial streaks present but not prominent. Back of ears
dull whitish. Chin and interramia white. Cheeks below white markings,
throat, and whole of neck dark purplish rufous, continuous with the
back. Belly pure sharply-defined white, but on the chest this colour is
broken by two projections running down from the dark throat-colour on
each side of the middle line to between the elbows. Limbs, except their
inner sides above, coloured like the back, but gradually passing lower
down into fulvous instead of rufous. Knee-brushes present but small.
Back of hams white, the white not projecting into the dark body-colour.
Tail long, well-haired, but not crested, blackish above and below,
except just at its base.
Skull-dimensions in an adult male:--Basal length 7·5 inches, greatest
breadth 3·7, muzzle to orbit 4·2.
Horns attaining about 11 or 12 inches in length; their basal halves
broadly ringed, their long forwardly-directed terminal halves smooth
and evidently corresponding to the short smooth recurved tips of
ordinary Gazelline horns.
_Female._ Similar to the male, but without horns.
_Hab._ Eastern parts of Central Somaliland, restricted to
the Dolbahanta and Marehán countries S.E. of Berbera.
We now conclude the long series of Gazelles with three abnormal forms,
each constituting a genus of itself, which, curiously enough, are all
restricted to N.E. Africa. As regards the first two of them there can
be no question, we believe, of their close alliance to the Gazelles,
_Ammodorcas_ being, in several respects, intermediate between
_Gazellla_ and _Lithocranius_, and leading on to that most
specialized form of the group. About the correct position of the Beira,
however, there is considerable doubt, and it is quite possible that a
more natural place for it in the Antelopine series may be hereafter
discovered.
The Dibatag, or Clarke’s Gazelle, was first met with by the sportsman
and naturalist whose name it bears in 1890, during his exploring trip
into the Dolbahanta and Marehán country south-east of Berbera. Writing
to Thomas about his discovery, Mr. T. W. H. Clarke (of Secheron,
Battery Point, Hobart, Tasmania) says (see P. Z. S. 1891, p. 209):--
“I saw this Gazelle for the first time on December 17th, 1890,
about three hours from ‘Bairwell,’ or about one day from ‘Buroa
Well, Habergerhagi’s country,’ and afterwards on the road all
the way into the Marehan district, 8° N., 47° E. I killed a
male, and found one of the horns broken off close to the skull,
which had apparently been done a year or so ago.
“They are very graceful animals, with a long neck and
well-proportioned head and horns; the body is rather slender,
but considerably larger than in _Gazella spekei_, about the size
of a female _G. walleri_. The legs are long and slender; the
hoofs are not so triangular as those of _G. spekei_, and small
for the size of the animal. They have small ears and a long
upper lip, just like those of _G. walleri_ or a Giraffe. The
horns are of the shape of a sickle, and less than 12 inches in
length, the longest, out of the eleven males killed, measuring
11 inches. The tail, from what I remember, is about 12 or 13
inches in length, very thin, and thinly covered with black hair
about 1 inch long.
“The colour of the body in this Antelope is like that of the
neck, of a kind of pink-fawn, but the belly is whitish and the
tail black. The face resembles that of _G. walleri_, only
_G. walleri_ has no white in front of the eye.
“When running, or rather jumping, these Gazelles look very
peculiar; their long neck and head being thrown back and the
tail thrown forward, so that there appears to be only a foot
between head and tail. The country they are mostly found in is
of low thorn-bush and sandy; they do not seem to like the big
bushes, though at times they are found there. In this respect
they differ from _G. walleri_, this species liking many bushes
to go and rest in.
“The new Gazelle is to be found one day’s journey from Buroa
Wells, at an elevation of 3100 feet, to the Marehan country
(800 feet) (general course about S. by E.), and is there
more numerous than any other kind of game, excepting _G.
soemmerringi_; but the latter is found only in the open
country.
“Several times I observed the new Gazelle and G. walleri feeding
together, but I never saw more than eight in a bunch, and on
that occasion there was a male _G. soemmerringi_ with them.”
Mr. Clarke’s skulls of this Antelope, which were at the time without
head-skins, having been submitted to Thomas for examination by Messrs.
Rowland Ward and Co. (to whom Mr. Clarke had sent for preservation
his specimens of Antelopes obtained during this expedition), were, on
account of the shape of the horns, not unnaturally supposed to belong
to a new species of Reedbuck, and named “_Cervicapra clarkei_”--a
mistake which Thomas corrected in his later paper. Very shortly after
Mr. Clarke’s specimens had been sent to Europe Capt. Swayne purchased
of an Arab in the market at Berbera two pairs of horns of this Antelope
with the head-skins attached, and, seeing that they belonged to a new
species, sent them to Sclater. Sclater exhibited these specimens at a
meeting of the Zoological Society on March 17th, 1891, and pointed out
their Gazelline affinities, but finding that they belonged to the same
species as that just named by Thomas handed them over to the latter for
further examination.
In his paper upon this subject, which was read at the same meeting of
the Zoological Society, Thomas took the opportunity of describing the
whole series of Mr. Clarke’s Antelopes, which were eight in number.
For Clarke’s Gazelle, of which, with the aid of the head-skins and
the cleaned skulls, he had no difficulty in recognizing the true
affinities, he established the new generic term “_Ammodorcas_,”
and added a full description of this remarkable form, illustrated by
two plates, one of which, by the kind permission of the Zoological
Society, we are enabled to copy in the present work.
[Illustration: Fig. 83.
Head of the Dibatag, ♂.
(From P. Z. S. 1891, pl. xxi.)]
As already pointed out, it is evident that in its skull-characters
_Ammodorcas_ is intermediate between _Gazella_ and _Lithocranius_,
while in the shape of its horns it is absolutely different from all
other Gazelline genera.
Capt. Swayne, who has had the unequalled experience of seventeen visits
to Somaliland, writing in 1894, says:--
“I have been singularly unfortunate with this Antelope, never
having been in the country where it is found till I went to the
Nogal Valley some three years ago. At that time the Jilal, or
dry season, was at its height, and all the game was scarce and
shy, so I never got a _Dibatag_ till June 1893, when on my
return journey from Ogádén, across the waterless plateau, I made
a détour of several days to the east on purpose to shoot one for
my collection.
“I searched for _Dibatag_ at Tur, a jungle due south of the
Toyo grass plains, the distance being some eighty miles from
Berbera, and was lucky in getting one good buck and picking up
two pairs of horns. Although I saw a good many, all were wild
and shy. This is their extreme western limit, and they never by
any chance, I believe, come so far south as the Gólis Range.
Farther east, towards Buró, they are more plentiful and less shy.