antelope
Antelope ( s ) is a common collective name for several species of the hornbeams (Bovidae), some of which are not closely related .
meaning
The term is not used in biological taxonomy . Rather, it serves as a collective term used in everyday language for the predominantly wild horn-bearers in Africa and Asia, in contrast to the traditionally domesticated species of horn-bearers. However, the different antelopes do not form a phylogenetic and therefore no systematic unit. They make up the majority of the 100+ species of horned bearers.
Since the term is not scientific, there are various definitions. As a rule, antelopes are all horned animals that do not belong to the goat-like (Caprinae), which mainly includes sheep and goats, or the cattle (Bovini). Antelopes are therefore the duiker , the bovinae without the cattle, the hartebeest , the billy horse , the reduncinae , the aepycerotinae and the gazelle-like . For a further subdivision of these taxa, see horn carriers .
The Duden defines the antelope as a herding mammal of varying sizes with a slender body and curved or curled horns that occurs in Africa and Asia. In some species, however, the females do not have horns.
In North America occurring Pronghorn outwardly resembles the antelopes of Africa and Asia. It is therefore sometimes referred to as "American antelope" or "fork horn antelope", but it does not belong to the group of horned animals.
Mythical creatures
The word "antelope" (about lat . Antalopus of gr . Ἀνθόλοψ ) is only since the early modern period used in its modern sense, in ancient and medieval bestiaries called it a wild mythical creatures , which, on the banks of the Euphrates lives. It is so nimble that no hunter can catch it, its horns are sharp as saws and the animal is able to use it to fell trees. However, it sometimes gets caught in the undergrowth with its horns, only then can it be shot.
This fabulous antelope found its way into heraldry in the Middle Ages. As a heraldic animal , it adorned the seal of the English kings Henry IV , V and VI.
literature
- Brehms Neue Tierzyklopädie / Volume 3: Mammals 3 / Bertelsmann Lexikon / ISBN 3-570-08603-8
- Rennie Montague Bere : The Animal World: Antelopes , 1970
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Antelope, which can be found at www.duden.de (accessed on September 13, 2012)