Title: Brehm's Life of animals : a complete natural history for popular home instruction and for the use of schools. Mammalia
Identifier: brehmslifeofanim1896breh (find matches)
Year: 1896 (1890s)
Authors: Brehm, Alfred Edmund, 1829-1884; Pechuel-Loesche, Edward, 1840-1913; Haacke, Wilhelm, 1855-1912; Schmidtlein, Richard
Subjects: Mammals; Animal behavior
Publisher: Chicago : Marquis
Contributing Library: Internet Archive
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive

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THE PROXGHORXED AX DIALS. 513 apparently loves it tenderly and perils her life in defense of it without hesitation. Difficulty and The pursuit of adult Gnus is rendered Profit of a Gnu difficult by reason of the extreme Hunt. speed and endurance of the animal. Gnus when pursued exhibit a striking resemblance to fleeing wild Oxen. Occasionally Gnus are caught in pitfalls or snares. Those which are taken when already old act as if mad; young ones, however, that are reared on cow's milk and caressed and fon- dled become accustomed to Man and so tame that one can send them to pasture with the flocks and allow them the liberty accorded a domestic animal. The profit accruing from the carcass of a slain Gnu is about the same as that arising from any other wild African Antelopes. The flesh is eaten, being juicy and tender, the hide is used as leather, and the horns are made into knife handles and other articles. Horns of Prong- This Ruminant, the Pronghorned horns Not Those of Antelope, differs from all its rela- an Antelope. t;ves 0f the entire order, by having hollow, pronged horns, which do not increase by a continuous growth, as do those of the Horned Ani- mals, but are shed and formed anew from time to- time, as are those of Deer, but in a totally different, manner. Other peculiarities, such as the existence of special glands, the resemblance of the hoofs to those of the Giraffe, the texture and appearance of the hair, etc., induced Murie, who dissected the animal, to describe it as "an Antelope with a head like a Deer, hoofs like a Giraffe, glands like a Goat„ hair like a Sheep," which can mean nothing else but that the Pronghorn is no Antelope. All character- istics of the Ruminant in question are of so peculiar and important a character that the animal cannot be united with any other family of its order, but must
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THE bristles ar g QNU This species of the Antelope, which is an inhabitant of south Africa, has many peculiarities, among which the shape of the horns, the ound the strangely formed snout, the manes on the neck and withers and the horse-like tail, are some of the most noteworthy. (Catoblcpas gnu.) Zbc prongbornefe animals. FOURTH FAMILY: Antii o< u kid e. We let the hollow-horned animals be followed in our consideration by a Ruminant which was. until recently, classified among the Antelopes, although the distinctive difference in the formation of its horns from those of all other Horned Animals made such a classification manifestly incorrect. This is probably the animal mentioned by old Hernandez as existing in Mexico, under the name of "Teutlama- zame," but as the scientific description of this re- markable Ruminant dates back only to the year 1815 it was reserved for the naturalists of our own time to correct a scientific error which had been obstinately persisted in, and to give the animal its true position in its order. be classified as the representative of a distinct family which we will call the Pronghorned Animals. Description and The Pronghorn, or, as it is variously Range of the called the Pronghorned Antelope. Pronghorn. Prongbuck, Cabree or Cabrit (A/iti- locapra amcricana or AntUope furcifer) has, on the whole, the shape of a vigorous Antelope, measuring about five feet in length, from seven to eight inches of which total are included in the tail; and the height at the shoulders is thirty-two inches. The head is ungainly, sheep-like and elongated, the eye large, dark "and expressive; the ear is rather long and is acutely pointed. The neck is of moderate length,, and the body appears more slender than it really is, for it is supported on very delicate legs of more than medium length. Three different and usually sharply contrasting tints—a rusty sorrel, white and dark brown—make the coat one of very gay appearance.

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