Range of Subfamily. Ethiopian Region—Africa south of Atlas and Arabia.
This subfamily contains some of the largest and finest Antelopes in existence. Three genera are usually recognized, which may be distinguished as follows:—
- A. Horns straight or curved, not twisted. Hoofs normal.
- a. Horns placed above the orbits, starting nearly vertically upwards and then curving strongly backwards 1. Hippotragus.
- b. Horns placed behind the orbits, slanting backwards nearly in the line of the face 2. Oryx.
- B. Horns spirally twisted, placed as in Oryx. Hoofs broadly rounded. 3. Addax.
Genus I. HIPPOTRAGUS.
| Type. | |
| Egocerus, Desm. Mamm. ii. p. 475 (1822) (nec Ægoceros, Pall. Zool. Ross.-As. i. p. 224 (1811) | H. leucophæus. |
| Aigocerus, H. Sm. Griff. An. K. v. p. 324 (1827) | H. leucophæus. |
| Hippotragus, Sund. Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Handl. 1844, p. 196 (1846). | H. leucophæus. |
| Ozanna, Brehm, Thierl. iii. p. 227 (1880) (in synonymy) | H. niger. |
Size large; form high and comparatively slender, less stout and bovine than in the succeeding genera. Muzzle hairy. Tail long and tufted. Mammæ 4. Large accessory hoofs present.
Skull proportionally long, its frontal region very convex upwards, the large horn-cores rising almost vertically above the posterior half of the orbits. Lachrymal fissures almost or quite obsolete. No anteorbital fossa. Premaxillæ not reaching to the nasals.
Horns medium or long, slightly but evenly divergent, nearly vertical basally, strongly curved backwards above; heavily ringed.
Female with horns similar to those of the male, but shorter, slenderer, and much smoother.
Range of the Genus. Africa south of the Sahara, but not occurring in the great Congo Forest.