(_Antilope cervicapra_ or _A. bezoartica_)
of India, a species taking its name from the deep black coat assumed by
the adult bucks, and easily recognized by the graceful, spirally twisted
horns ornamenting the heads of that sex, is now the sole representative
of the genus _Antilope_, formerly taken to embrace the whole of the true
antelopes. Large face-glands are characteristic of the species, which
inhabits the open plains of India in large herds. They leap high in the
air, like the springbuck, when on the move.

With the palla (q.v.), or impala (_Aepyceros melampus_), we reach an
exclusively African genus, characterized by the lyrate horns of the
bucks, the absence of lateral hoofs, and the presence of a pair of
glands with black tufts of hair on the hind-feet.

The sheep-like saiga (q.v.), _Saiga tatarica_, of the Kirghiz steppes
stands apart from all other antelopes by its curiously puffed and
trunk-like nose, which can be wrinkled up when the animal is feeding and
has the nostrils opening downwards. More or less nearly related to the
saiga is the chiru (q.v.), _Pantholops hodgsoni_ of Tibet, characterized
by the long upright black horns of the bucks, and the less convex nose,
in which the nostrils open anteriorly instead of downwards.

The _Neotraginae_ (or _Nanotraginae_) form an exclusively African group
of small-sized antelopes divided into several, for the most part nearly
related, genera. Almost the only characters they possess in common are
the short and spike-like horns of the bucks, which are ringed at the
base, with smooth tips, and the large size of the face-gland, which
opens by a circular aperture. _Neotragus_ is represented by the pigmy
royal antelope (_N. pygmaeus_) of Guinea; _Hylarnus_ includes one
species from Cameroon and a second from the Semliki forest; while
_Nesotragus_ comprises the East African suni antelopes, _N. moschatus_
and _N. livingstonianus_. All three might, however, well be included in
_Neotragus_. The royal antelope is the smallest of the Bovidae.

The steinbok (_Rhaphiceros campestris_) and the _grysbok_ (_R.
melanotis_) are the best-known representatives of a group characterized
by the vertical direction of the horns and the small gland-pit in the
skull; lateral hoofs being absent in the first-named and present in the
second. A bare gland-patch behind the ear serves to distinguish the
oribis or ourebis, as typified by _Oribia montana_ of the Cape; lateral
hoofs being present