Chapter II

FURTHER NOTES ON THE QUESTIONS OF PROTECTIVE COLORATION, RECOGNITION
MARKS, AND THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENT ON LIVING ORGANISMS

Occasional resemblance of African mammals to natural
objects--Hartebeests--Elephants--Giraffes--Coloration of
the Somali giraffe--Giraffes not in need of a protective
coloration--Koodoos and sable antelopes--Acute sense of hearing
in the moose--Possible explanation of large size of ears in
the African tragelaphine antelopes--Coloration of bushbucks,
situtungas, and inyalas--Leopards the only enemies of the
smaller bush-haunting antelopes--Recognition marks--Must render
animals conspicuous to friend and foe alike--Ranges of allied
species of antelopes seldom overlap--Hybridisation sometimes
takes place--Wonderful coloration of the bontebok--Coloration
distinctly conspicuous and therefore not protective--Recognition
marks unnecessary--Coloration of the blesbok--The blesbok
merely a duller coloured bontebok--Difference in the habitat
of the two species--The coloration of both species may be due
to the influence of their respective environments--The weak
point in the theory of protective coloration when applied to
large mammals--Hares and foxes in the Arctic and sub-Arctic
regions--The efficacy of colour protection at once destroyed by
movement--Buffaloes and lions--General conclusions regarding the
theory of protective coloration as applied to large mammals
Pages 24-43