page_title: Tragelaphini
section_title: General description
hierarchical_section_title: Tragelaphini / Natural history / General description
caption_attribution_description: English: Identifier: natalprovincedes00tatl (find matches) Title: Natal province&#160;: descriptive guide and official hand-book Year: 1911 (1910s) Authors: Tatlow, A.H South African Railways. Publicity Dept Subjects: Railroads Publisher: Durban, Natal&#160;: South African Railways Printing Works Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto Digitizing Sponsor: University of Toronto View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: ble Antelope The Inyala (Tragelaphus angasi) is one of the most beautiful of the antelopes. Thebody is pale greyish brown, with nine or ten transverse white bands, and the legs below theknees are bright reddish brown. The female is hornless&#160;; it is smaller and is rufous in colour,and there are about a dozen transverse white bands round the body. The animal is found in thickly-wooded country, and occurs in small herds. It rangesfrom Zululand to Delagoa Bay, and it also extends north of the Zambesi. The Sitatunga (Tragelaphus selousi) is of a pale brown colour, and the hornsclosely resemble those of the inyala. It does not occur in Natal. The Kudu (StrepsJeeros eapensis) is one of the largest antelopes, and is characterisedby the large spiral horns of the male. It is pale greyish brown in colour, and there are abouteight transverse, narrow, white stripes surrounding the body. The animal lives mostly in the bush in small herds, and it is still to be found inZululand in small numbers. 487 Text Appearing After Image: Inyala—male and female The Eland (Taurotragus oryx) is the largest of the antelopes. The colour of thebody is fawn, and on the forehead there is a prominent swelling extending down between theeyes and carrying a tuft of dark brown hair. The horns are massive. The neck is very thickowing to extensive deposits of fat, and there is a large dewlap. A few occur along the Basutoland and Natal border, and they are now increasing innumbers in the Government Game Reserve. The eland is readily tamed, and would undoubtedlyconstitute a valuable draught animal. In the natural state the eland is found in troops, and it is a singularly timid andharmless animal. It is stated by W. L. Sclater that it is able to live without water like thegemsbuck and springbuck, and that the necessary fluid is obtained from bulbs and tubers. The Sable Antelope (Hippotragus niger) is very dark brown or black, with a whitebelly and a certain amount of white over the face. The horns of this beautiful animal areclosely Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: The tribe Tragelaphini, or the spiral-horned antelopes, are bovines that are endemic to sub-Sahara Africa. These include the bushbuck, kudus, and the elands. The scientific name is in reference to the mythical creature the tragelaph, a Chimera with the body of a stag and the head of a goat. They are medium-to-large, tall, long-legged antelopes characterized by their iconic twisted horns and striking pelage coloration patterns.
  Despite being among the largest species of antelope, they are actually more closely related to cattle, and together along with a few apparent Asiatic species belong to the subfamily Bovinae. While the group's evolutionary history occurred in Africa, there have been fossil species that have been found in Eurasia. The number of genera and species is debated as some consider there to be one or two genera with nine species, while others consider there to be five genera and 25 species. In general, spiral-horned antelopes can be roughly divided into two groups: robust forms and gracile forms.
context_section_description: The spiral-horned antelopes are medium to large antelopes and generally are tall and long-legged. Horns are present in the males of all species, while females lack them with the exception of bongos and elands. The horns primarily role is used for defensive horn-wrestling which are common during territorial disputes, as well has for horn soiling and sexual display. Other examples of extreme sexual dimorphism can be seen among spiral-horned antelopes. Males are much larger in size than the females, and both sexes have very contrasting pelage coloration. The coloration in females is generally tan to red-brown. Males area a darker hue of the female coloration, which they darken as the animal gets older. Regardless of the coloration of the sexes, most species of spiral-horned antelopes have disruptive coloration that is a distinctive white vertical barring (striped pattern). A spotting pattern can occur as well. Both patterns are individually and geographically variable. These patterns help them to conceal themselves in the dense vegetation from predators. Most species have a white chevron between the eyes, spotted cheeks, the throat having a white patch and the upper-forelegs with dark garters. All except the nyala and the greater kudu have a chest crescent. In addition there are also physical attributes that serve a purpose in social communication such as dorsal crests, white scuts and white tips on the horns. These features help express the animal's emotions as well as alerting members of the herd from predators. Underneath the hair fringe in the hind feet are special glands that encircles the false hooves.
caption: Taxiderm mounts of nyala showing the general characteristics seen in this group.
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