Khoisan rock art shows the true eland

by | Mar 10, 2016 | Site Content

 
 
 

 

Khoisan rock art shows the true eland
 
Links to the images that inspired this bio-insight:

http://rsr.akvo.org/

https://www.flickr.com/

http://www.omatjete.com/images/gallery/eland/Eland_19.jpg

http://etosha-namibia.com/oppiklippe/pictures/Oppikl15.jpg

http://l7.alamy.com/

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/

http://www.birdingafrica.com/IMAGES_from_Feb09/CAP_ElandPostberg_OS.jpg

http://l7.alamy.com/

 

 

 

Rock-paintings of the common eland by the Khoisan seem cartoonish in depicting a whitish head and neck in contrast to the brownish body. No such blaze is mentioned in zoological descriptions of this, one of the plainest-coloured of antelopes. The solution to this puzzle is that the fur of the cheeks and side of the neck of the common eland possesses a peculiar type of ‘matt-sheen’ which is apparent only from a distance. In this aspect of the typical appearance of the species, the portrayals in modern field-guidebooks are less realistic than those in primitive rock art.

 

Robin and the Honey Badger, 22 March 2016