Red hartebeest
| Red hartebeest | ||||||||||||
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Streifengnu ( Connochaetes taurinus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Alcelaphini | ||||||||||||
| Brooke , 1876 |
The hartebeest (Alcelaphini) are a tribe of horned bearers (Bovidae), named after the North African hartebeest ( Alcelaphus buselaphus ).
General
They are large antelopes native to Africa . They are named after their elongated, somewhat cattle-like skull. However, they are not closely related to the cattle , but rather seem to be near the rams . All hartebeest have horns. These are short and hook-like and are worn by both sexes.
Red hartebeests are predominantly found in grasslands and savanna regions in sub-Saharan Africa. They are adapted to forage on grass and often live - or lived until they were sometimes drastically decimated by human hunting - in large herds.
Systematics
The number of species within the hartebeest is controversial, which is mainly due to the different assessment of the status of individual subspecies. The following genera and species are distinguished according to Groves and Grubb (2011):
- Alcelaphini Brooke Tribe in Wallace, 1876
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- Genus red hartebeest ( Alcelaphus de Blainville , 1816)
- † North African hartebeest ( Alcelaphus buselaphus ( Pallas , 1766))
- Southern hartebeest or kaama hartebeest ( Alcelaphus caama Alcelaphus caama (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire , 1803))
- Kongoni hartebeest or Cokes hartebeest ( Alcelaphus cokii Günther , 1884)
- Lelwel hartebeest ( Alcelaphus lelwel ( Heuglin , 1877))
- Lichtenstein antelope ( Alcelaphus lichtensteinii ( Peters , 1852))
- West African hartebeest ( Alcelaphus major ( Blyth , 1869))
- Somalia hartebeest ( Alcelaphus swaynei ( Sclater , 1892))
- Torah hartebeest ( Alcelaphus tora Gray , 1873)
- Genus Beatragus Heller , 1912
- Hunter antelope or Hirola ( Beatragus hunteri ( Sclater , 1889))
- Genus lyre antelope ( Damaliscus Sclater & Thomas , 1894)
- Ruaha topi ( Damaliscus eurus Blaine , 1914)
- Corrigum ( Damaliscus correctum ( Ogilby , 1834))
- Serengeti topi ( Damaliscus jimela ( Matschie , 1892))
- Sassaby ( Damaliscus lunatus ( Burchell , 1824); may include several species)
- Blessbock ( Damaliscus phillipsi Harper , 1939)
- Buntbock ( Damaliscus pygargus ( Pallas , 1767))
- Bangweulu-Sassaby ( Damaliscus superstes Cotterill , 2003)
- Tiang ( Damaliscus tiang ( Heuglin , 1863))
- Coastal topi ( Damaliscus topi Blaine , 1914)
- Topi or Uganda topi ( Damaliscus ugandae Blaine , 1914)
- Genus Gnus ( Connochaetes Lichtenstein , 1812)
- White-bearded wildebeest or Eastern white-bearded wildebeest ( Connochaetes albojubatus Thomas , 1892)
- White-tailed wildebeest ( Connochaetes gnou ( Zimmermann , 1780))
- White -banded Gnu or Nyassa Gnu ( Connochaetes johnstoni Sclater , 1896)
- Serengeti white-bearded wildebeest or western white -bearded wildebeest ( Connochaetes mearnsi ( Heller , 1913))
- Streifengnu ( connochaetes taurinus ( Burchell , 1824))
Originally known as the lyre antelope , it forms a species complex made up of the various sassabies (Sassaby and Bangweulu-Sassaby), the corrigum and the tiang as well as some topis (Serengeti topi and coastal topi). Originally regarded as a subspecies of the lyre antelope, they are listed as independent after the revision by Groves and Grubb (2011).
Tribal history
The earliest fossil record of the hartebeest dates to the late Miocene around 7.5 to 7 million years ago and comes from Lothagam in Kenya . By the Pliocene , at the latest , the hartebeest were already represented in a very varied way, important genera being Damalacra and Parmularius , the former is documented from Langebaanweg in southwestern South Africa , the latter from Laetoli in Tanzania and Makapansgat , also South Africa. The earliest appearance of today's forms also occurs during this period. In addition to numerous finds from eastern and southern Africa, the lyre antelopes have also been found in the northern part of the continent, for example from Ain Bucherit in Algeria . Early representatives of the wildebeest have also been discovered here, while predecessors of today's hunter antelope have early records in Koobi Fora and Olduvai in eastern Africa, among others . The early forms of the Hunter antelope were still very large and had extremely long horn cones. Important genera of the Pleistocene are Megalotragus , one of the largest hartebeest at all, and Rusingoryx . While the former was spread over large parts of East and South Africa and only disappeared in the early Holocene , the latter has only occurred on Lake Victoria and is limited to the upper region Pleistocene.
literature
- Colin Groves and Peter Grubb: Ungulate Taxonomy. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011, pp. 1-317 (pp. 208-218)
- Colin P. Groves and David M. Leslie Jr .: Family Bovidae (Hollwow-horned Ruminants). In: Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 2: Hooved Mammals. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2011, ISBN 978-84-96553-77-4 , pp. 695-709
- Don E. Wilson, DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World . 3rd edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Colin P. Groves and David M. Leslie Jr .: Family Bovidae (Hollow-horned Ruminants). In: Don E. Wilson and Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 2: Hooved Mammals. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2011, ISBN 978-84-96553-77-4 , pp. 695-709
- ^ A b Colin Groves and Peter Grubb: Ungulate Taxonomy. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011, pp. 1-317 (pp. 208-218)
- ↑ Fenton PD Cotterill: Insights into the taxonomy of tsessebe antelopes Damaliscus lunatus (Bovidae: Alcelaphini) with the description of a new evolutionary species in south-central Africa. Durban Museum Novitates 28, 2003, pp. 11-30
- ↑ Allen W. Gentry: Bovidae. In: Lars Werdelin and William Joseph Sanders (eds.): Cenozoic Mammals of Africa. University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, 2010, pp. 741-796
