GERENUK

gerenuk, the somali name of a long-necked aberrant gazelle, commonly known as waller's gazelle (_lithocranius walleri_), and ranging from somaliland to kilimanjaro. the long neck and limbs, coupled with peculiarities in the structure of the skull, entitle the gerenuk, which is a large species, to represent a genus. the horns of the bucks are heavy, and have a peculiar forward curvature at the tips; the colour of the coat is red-fawn, with a broad brown band down the back. gerenuk are browsing ruminants, and, in somaliland, are found in small family-parties, and feed more by browsing on the branches and leaves of trees and shrubs than by grazing. frequently they raise themselves by standing on their hind-legs with the fore-feet resting against the trunk of the tree on which they are feeding. their usual pace is an awkward trot, not unlike that of a camel; and they seldom break into a gallop. the somali form has been separated as _l. sclateri_, but is not more than a local race. (see antelope.) gergovia (mod. _gergovie_), in ancient geography, the chief town of the arverni, situated on a hill in the auvergne, about 8 m. from the puy de dome, france. julius caesar attacked it in 52 b.c., but was beaten off; some walls and earthworks seem still to survive from this period. later, when gaul had been subdued, the place was dismantled and its gaulish inhabitants resettled 4 m. away in the plain at the new roman city of augustonemetum (mod. _clermont-ferrand_).