Szekessy Vilmos (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 59. (Budapest 1967)

Szunyoghy, J. ; Nagy, E.: The scientific results of Hungarian zoological expeditions to Tanganyika 11. Data to the body measurements of East African big game on the basis of material collected during the third expedition

able to us, in different points of Tanganyika, during the period 27 May, 1965 — 6 February, 1966. We have saved mostly the long bones, and occasionally the skulls, of the big game specimens measured by us for the Hungarian Natural History Museum. Most of the measured specimens had been shot by foreign hunting guests who had, quite understandably, taken the heads

—with their inseparable trophies—with them. This is the reason why, of the collected 119 big game specimens, we had been able to obtain the skulls of merely 36 exemplars for the collection of the Museum. The following big game species {listed as to specimen numbers, locality, and sex) had been collected during the period defined above : Strepsiceros strepsiceros frommt MATSCHIE, 3 exemplars (K* 1 çf, I 1 çf, Si 1 çf) ; Strepsiceros imberbis australis HELLER, 2 (L 1 r/, Sa 1 çf); Oryx beisa callotis THOMAS, 1 (Se 1 çf); Oryx beisa annectens HOLLISTER, 3 (Ma 1 çf, L 1 <-/, Sa 1 çf); Hippotragus niger roosevelti HELLER, 5 (R 2 çf, 11$, 2 çf); Hippotragus equinus langheldi MATSCHIE, 3 (R 3 $); Aepyceros melampus suara MATSCHIE, 11 (Ma 6 çf, Se 4 çf, I 1 o*); Gazella granti granti BROOKE, 5 (Ma 2 çf, Se 2 çf, L 1 çf ); Litocranius walleri walleri BROOKE, 3 (L 3 çf); Eedunca redunca wardi THOMAS, 3 (Se 2 çf, I 1 çf); Tragelaphus scriptus massaicus NEUMANN 1 (Ma 1 çf); Gazella thomsonii ruwanae KNOTTERUS — MEYER, 4 (Se 2 çf, Tu 2 çf); Baphicerus campestris neumanni MATSCHIE, 4 (L 2 çf, Se 1 çf, K 1 çf) ; Rhynchotragus kirki nyikae HELLER, 2 (O 1 çf, Se 1 çf) ; Nesotragus moschatus moschatus VON DEUBEN 2 (A 2 9 ) ; Ourebia ourebia cottoni THOMAS & WROUGHTON, 3 (R 2 çf, I 1 çf) ; Gephalophus 2 (L 1 çf, Il 9 ) 5 Connochaetes taurinus albojubatus THOMAS, 6 (Ma 2 çf, Se 3 çf); Alcelaphus buselaphus cokii GÜNTHER, 8 (Ma 3 çf, Se 3 çf, Li çf, ? 1 o"); Alcelaphus lichtensteinii lichtenstenii PETERS, 7 (R 4 çf, 1 Ç>, ï 2 çf); Taurotragus oryx billingae KERSHAW, 1 (Se 1 çf); Phacochoerus aethiopicus sundevallii LÖNNBERG, 10 (Se 3 cf, 3 9 > R 2 çf, I 1 çf, L 1 çf ) ; Syncerus caffer caffer SPARRMAN, 7 (Ma 1 çf, 1 9, R 2 çf, I 3 çf); Equus burchellii b'ôhmi MATSCHIE 9 (Ma 1 çf, Se 3 çf, 1 9> I 1 çfs 1 93 Sa 2 çf); Loxodonta africana knochenhaueri BLUMENBACH 1 (I 1 çf); Felis pardus pardus LINNAEUS, 4 (G 1 9, Se 1 çf, R 1 çf, I 1 çf) ; Felis leo massaica NEUMANN, 1 (I 1 9 ) ; Crocuta crocuta germinans MATSCHIE, 6 (Se 2 çf, 2 9 > 1 ?

S H 1 çf ) ', Papio doguera neumanni MATSCHIE, 3 (Se 2 9 > K 1 9)Of the 119 animals listed above, we had, through no fault of ours, been able to take measurements of merely 57 specimens, in general 20 measurements per head. The measurements had been compiled so as to characterize with them, as far as possible, the corporeal structure and features of the animal. For the reading of the longitudinal and circumference measurements, we have used a tape scaled in mm. Unfortunately, the employment of a measuring rod (which alone is suitable to establish, for instance, the height of shoulder, the width of chest and ribs, etc., and which is used to take readings of livestock), was out of the question, because the rod con be applied only in the case of living animals, and in a standing position at that, and not for the measuring of lifeless specimens lying usually on their sides on the ground. There was no other expedient but to measure, for instance, the height of the shoulder by tape instead of a rod. A similar difficulty was encountered in body weight readings. Although we had a strong portable scale, extremely useful in the field (it could be easily hung up in almost every place, and measuring up to 250 kg) by which we had weighed many animals including the great kudu, zebra, and gnu, the Cape buffalos had to be cut into pieces for the establishment of their body weights. The readings of the measurements were usually taken immediately after the animal was shot, and prior to the onset of sigor mortis, so that there were no diffi* The abbreviation of the localities are as follows : A = Arusha, G = Ngare Nanyuki, I = Isangi, K = Katesh, L = Longido, Ma = Manyara, O = Oldonyo Sambu, B = Rungwa, Sa = Sanya, Se = Sereri, Si = Singida.