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.