''Megalotragus'' was a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of very large extinct African alcelaphines that occurred from the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...

.Thackeray, John Francis. (2015). Faunal Remains from Holocene Deposits, Excavation 1, Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa. African Archaeological Review. Its skull resembled that of modern

hartebeest The hartebeest (; ''Alcelaphus buselaphus''), also known as kongoni or kaama, is an African antelope. It is the only member of the genus ''Alcelaphus''. Eight subspecies have been described, including two sometimes considered to be independ ...

s, but it differed in having a larger body size and

wildebeest Wildebeest ( , , ), also called gnu ( or ), are antelopes of the genus ''Connochaetes'' and native to Eastern and Southern Africa. They belong to the family Bovidae, which includes true antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep, and other even-to ...

-like proportions. ''Megalotragus'' includes some of the largest

bovid The Bovidae comprise the biological family of cloven-hoofed, ruminant mammals that includes cattle, bison, buffalo, antelopes, and caprines. A member of this family is called a bovid. With 143 extant species and 300 known extinct species, ...

species in the tribe Alcelaphini, reaching a shoulder height of . The genus consists of three species of which ''Megalotragus priscus'' survived until the early Holocene 7.500 C14yBP.

Description

With a distance between the tips of its horns of around , ''Megalotragus'' is probably the largest alcelaphine bovid ever recorded, much bigger than the extanct wildebeest. The skull of ''Megalotragus'' is similar to that of the

: characterized by extreme elongation, and the fusion and posterior placement of the horn pedicels. However, it's postcrania and proportions are largely reminiscent of

: for instance, axes from ''Megalotragus'' are robust and compact, suggesting it had a robust, muscular neck that was likely held horizontally, much like

black wildebeest The black wildebeest or white-tailed gnu (''Connochaetes gnou'') is one of the two closely related wildebeest species. It is a member of the genus '' Connochaetes'' and family Bovidae. It was first described in 1780 by Eberhard August Wilhelm ...

. The nasal region of ''Megalotragus'' (with the exception of ''Megalotragus priscus'') is inflated and forms a domed structure. This is similar to the related ''

Rusingoryx ''Rusingoryx'' is a genus of extinct alcelaphine bovid artiodactyl closely related to the wildebeest. It contains only one species, ''R. atopocranion'', that lived on the plains of Kenya during the Pleistocene. It was originally named as a speci ...

'' (once included in ''Megalotragus'') but not as extreme. The type species ''M. kattwinkeli'' has relatively short, curved horns. ''M. isaaci'' possessed longer horns, while ''M. priscus'' possessed the longest horns of all three species.

References

Alcelaphinae Prehistoric bovids Pliocene even-toed ungulates Pleistocene even-toed ungulates Pliocene first appearances Pleistocene genus extinctions Holocene extinctions Pliocene mammals of Africa Pleistocene mammals of Africa Prehistoric even-toed ungulate genera Fossil taxa described in 1932 {{paleo-eventoedungulate-stub

Description

See also

References