''Nesotragus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of dwarf

antelope The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals ...

comprising two species, endemic to Africa, and formerly but incorrectly considered a synonym of the similarly named genus '' Neotragus''. Recent

nucleic acid Nucleic acids are biopolymers, macromolecules, essential to all known forms of life. They are composed of nucleotides, which are the monomers made of three components: a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base. The two main cl ...

studies demonstrate that the two species of ''Nesotragus'' are not closely related to the genus ''Neotragus''. Members of the Nesotragus are the only members of the subfamily Nesotraginae or tribe Nesotragini and are more closely related to the

impala The impala or rooibok (''Aepyceros melampus'') is a medium-sized antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The only extant member of the genus '' Aepyceros'' and tribe Aepycerotini, it was first described to European audiences by Germa ...

, while the

royal antelope The royal antelope (''Neotragus pygmaeus'') is a West African antelope, recognized as the world's smallest antelope. It was first described by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in 1758. It stands up to merely at the shoulder and weighs . A chara ...

remains a member of the subfamily

Antilopinae The Antilopines are even-toed ungulates belonging to the subfamily Antilopinae of the family Bovidae. The members of tribe Antilopini include the gazelles, blackbucks, springboks, gerenuks, dibatags, and Central Asian gazelles, are often referre ...

or tribe Antilopini. The scientific name comes from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

νῆσος (''nêsos''), "island", and τράγος (''trágos''), "he-goat", apparently in reference to the antelope species' habitat in wet rainforests.

References

Dwarf antelopes Mammal genera {{eventoedungulate-stub