Part 67

Grimmia grimmia, =Jent.= Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 138 (1887).

Size probably, in adult animals, about equal to that of C. abyssinicus; form slender. Colour uniformly light yellow all over, except a small streak on the nasal region, the tip of the tail, and the metacarpus and metatarsus, all of which are black. The yellow hairs of the body finely grizzled with black.

Horns, skull, and teeth of adult not yet known. In the type skull, that of a half-grown animal, the anteorbital fossæ are of moderate depth, and the mesial notch on the palate is nearly half an inch in advance of the lateral ones.

Dimensions of type, immature ♂:--Height at withers 16 inches, ear 3, hind foot 8·1.

Hab. West Africa.

Skull of Cephalophus coronatus.

(P.Z.S. 1871, p. 599.)]

The Crowned Duiker is a species established by Gray in 1842 upon specimens brought by Whitfield, Lord Derby’s collector, from the Gambia. The typical specimen in the British Museum appears to be immature, as are likewise other examples obtained in its company, and perfectly adult specimens of this obscure species are much required. Along with the skins Whitfield brought home a single adult female for the Derby Menagerie. This was figured in 1842 in two positions by Waterhouse Hawkins on the sixth plate of the ‘Gleanings.’ In the text of the ‘Knowsley Menagerie’ we are told that Whitfield’s name for it was the “Coquetoon,” but in the plate the native name of the present species is given as “Sinani,” while that of “Coquetoon” is assigned to C. rufilatus figured in its company, and this vernacular name has certainly been more generally applied to the latter species.

We suppose that the Antelope described by Pallas as Antilope grimmia from living specimens brought from the Guinea Coast may probably have belonged to this species, as may also many references of the older authors to an Antilope grimmia from Western Africa. But the true Capra grimmia of Linnæus, as we shall presently show, refers to another species.

We cannot find that any modern authority refers to fresh examples of this Antelope, and from the immaturity of the available specimens, to which we have already referred, we are quite unable to come to any definite conclusion as to its relationship. In its general appearance, however, the Crowned Duiker has a certain amount of resemblance to C. abyssinicus and C. grimmi, and we therefore place it provisionally in its present position.

The accompanying figure (Plate XXII. fig. 2), probably representing the male of this species, was drawn by Mr. Smit for the late Sir Victor Brooke, but we are unable to say from what specimen it was prepared.

August, 1895.

37. THE ABYSSINIAN DUIKER.

CEPHALOPHUS ABYSSINICUS, THOS.

Antilope madoqua, =Rüpp.= N. Wirb. Abyss., Säug. p. 22, pl. vii. fig. 2 (animal) (1830) (description and figure, but not references to =Bruce=, =Lichtenstein=, and others, which refer to Madoqua saltiana), nec A. madoka, H. Sm.; =Schinz=, Syn. Mamm. ii. p. 423 (1845); =Wagn.= Schr. Säug. Suppl. v. p. 422 (1855).

Tragelaphus madoqua, =Rüpp.= Verz. Senck. Mus. p. 37 (1842).

Sylvicapra madoqua, =Sund.= Pecora, K. Vet.-Ak. Hand-l. 1844, p. 190 (1846); =id.= Hornschuch’s Transl., Arch. Skand. Beitr. ii. p. 142; Reprint, p. 66 (1848); =Fitz.= SB. Wien, lix. pt. 1, p. 168 (1869).

Cephalophus madoqua, =Gray=, Knowsl. Men. p. 9 (1850); =id.= P. Z. S. 1871, p. 122; =id.= Cat. Ung. B. M. p. 82 (1852); =Temm.= Esq. Zool. Guin. p. 194 (1853); =Blanf.= Zool. Abyss. p. 267 (1870); =Gray=, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 598; =Heugl.= Reise N.O.-Afr. ii. p. 108 (1877); =Scl.= f. Cat. Mamm. Calc. Mus. ii. p. 168 (1891).

Grimmia madoqua, =Gray=, Cat. Rum. B. M. p. 24 (1872); =id.= Hand-l. Rum. B. M. p. 93 (1873); =Jent.= Cat. Ost. Leyd. Mus. (Mus. Pays-Bas, ix.) p. 132 (1887); =id.= Cat. Mamm. Leyd. Mus. (op. cit. xi.) p. 161 (1892).

Cephalophus abyssinicus, =Thos.= P. Z. S. 1892, p. 427; =Lyd.= Horns and Hoofs, p. 209 (1893).

VERNACULAR NAMES:--Madoqua of Abyssinians; Danido in Massowa (Rüppell); Orna of Geez; Midáqua of Amharas; Qalbadu and Dedanid in Tigré (Heuglin).

Size about one-third smaller than that of C. grimmi. Ears elongated, about equal to the distance between the anterior canthus and the rhinarium. Colour grizzled yellowish grey, with rufous face, brown nasal mark, and brown feet, just as in the grizzled varieties of C. grimmi, of which it is obviously the Abyssinian representative.

Horns (♂) set up at an angle above the line of the nasal profile, but not so markedly as in C. grimmi, 3 inches long, evenly tapering, their basal diameter going nearly 5 times in their length.

Skull, besides being actually smaller, shorter and broader in proportion than in C. grimmi. Distance between orbit and muzzle only just about equal to the zygomatic breadth. Anteorbital fossæ of medium depth. Mesial notch of palate about ⅓ inch in advance of the lateral ones.

Dimensions:--♂. Height at withers 18 inches, ear 3·5, hind foot 8·7.

Skull: basal length 5·2 inches, greatest breadth 2·98, anterior rim of orbit to muzzle 2·91.

Hab. Highlands of Abyssinia.

Dr. Edouard Rüppell, the renowned zoological explorer of Abyssinia and subsequently Director of the Senckenbergian Museum at Frankfort-on-the-Main, was the discoverer of this Antelope as well as of many other scarce and little-known animals of that wild country. Unfortunately, however, Rüppell fancied that his Antelope was the same as one previously met with by Bruce in Abyssinia, and named in Bruce’s ‘Travels’ “Madoqua.” This was possibly the case, but, as has been recently shown by Thomas, Hamilton Smith had already assigned the name Antilope madoka (based on the same native name) to another species--Salt’s Antelope, Madoqua saltiana. It therefore became necessary to change the name, and Thomas proposed to call the present species Cephalophus abyssinicus.