''Beatragus'' is a genus of
alcelaphine antelope. The
hirola
The hirola (''Beatragus hunteri''), also called the Hunter's hartebeest or Hunter's antelope, is a critically endangered antelope species found on the border between Kenya and Somalia. It was first described by the big game hunter and zoologist ...
''(Beatragus hunteri)'' is the only living representative, but a couple of extinct species are known, all from
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
.
The hirola and the larger ''
Beatragus antiquus'' may together represent different phases of a
chronospecies
A chronospecies is a species derived from a anagenesis, sequential development pattern that involves continual and uniform changes from an extinct ancestral form on an evolutionary scale. The sequence of alterations eventually produces a populatio ...
; the living hirola probably declined in size as a result of an ecologically impoverished landscape.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q19817354
Mammal genera
Mammal genera with one living species
Alcelaphinae
Mammals described in 1912