Aegoceros leucophæus, var.?, “Docoi” or Whitemouth of Mandingoes, Gray, Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 103 (1852), whence
Aegoceros koba, Gray, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 35 (1872); id. Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 103 (1873).
Hippotragus koba, Ward, Horn Meas. (1) p. 142 (1892); Matsch. Mittheil. deutsch. Schutz-gebiet, vi. p. 17 (1893); Pousargues, Ann. Sci. Nat. (7) iv. p. 131 (1896); Trouess. Cat. Mamm. fasc. iv. p. 951 (1898).
Hippotragus equinus, Scl. P. Z. S. 1896, p. 983, 1898, p. 350 (Gambia) (Llewelyn).
Vernacular Names:—Roan Antelope of English; Bastard Gemsbok and Bastard Eland of Dutch; Qualata of Northern Bechuanas; Tai-hait-sa of Southern Bechuanas; Ee-taku of Matabilis; Ee-pala-pala chena (White Sable Antelope) of the Makalakas; Impengo eetuba of Masubias; Oo-ka-mooh-wee of Makubas; Kwar of Masaras (Selous); Takayezi of Transvaal Zulus (Rendall); Palance in Angola (Bocage); Kolongo of Kinyamwesi in E. Africa (Böhm fide Matschie); Abu Maaref of Upper Nile Arabs (Heuglin & Baker). Anomm in Dinka; Ommar in Djur; Manja in Bongo; Bisso in Niam-Niam; Wunnunguh in Golo; Omahr in Bellanda; Dahngah in Ssehre (Schweinfurth).
Size very large, an adult male standing 56 inches high at the withers. General colour greyish, browner in the two northern subspecies. Top and sides of face black, contrasting markedly with the white muzzle and lips and with a prominent patch just in front of the eyes. On the lower half of this patch the hairs are elongated into a brush. Behind the eyes a second less conspicuous white patch is present. The black, however, is only developed in the adult, young specimens having the face nearly uniform with the body. Ears very long, narrow, pointed, their tips pencilled with black. Mane well developed, brown, directed backward, except just on the withers, where there is a tendency for it to be whorled. Throat-mane long and prominent. Belly white, its definition laterally rather variable. Limbs brownish fawn, black patches occasionally present on the outer sides of the shoulders and forearms. Tail reaching to the hocks, its brush black.
Skull-dimensions of an adult male (of subspecies H. e. bakeri):—Basal length 16 inches, greatest breadth 6·75, muzzle to orbit 10·3.
Horns stout and strong, cylindrical, heavily ridged, evenly divergent, curved backward; comparatively short for the size of the animal, good specimens being only from 26 to 30 inches in length, and the longest recorded only 33.
Female similar to the male, but the horns more slender, smoother, less heavily ridged, and less strongly curved backward, and neck and body less robust.
Hab. Africa south of the Sahara, except in the Congo wood-region.