''Rusingoryx'' is a genus of extinct alcelaphine

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, ...

artiodactyl The even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla , ) are ungulates—hoofed animals—which bear weight equally on two (an even number) of their five toes: the third and fourth. The other three toes are either present, absent, vestigial, or pointing poster ...

closely related to the

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 ...

. It contains only one species, ''R. atopocranion'', that lived on the plains of

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

. It was originally named as a species of '' Megalotragus''. ''Rusingoryx'' is known for its strange pointed nose with a large nasal dome. This structure represents an instance of

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

with the crests of hadrosaurid dinosaurs, which were used for display and vocalization. Studies have shown that the ''Rusingoryx'' is a specialized grazing animal, with a preference for arid grasslands. The first specimens, which were poorly preserved, were described in 1983, having been taken from a site called Bovid Hill on

Rusinga Island Rusinga Island, with an elongated shape approximately 10 miles (16 km) from end to end and 3 miles (5 km) at its widest point, lies in the eastern part of Lake Victoria at the mouth of the Winam Gulf. Part of Kenya, it is linked to Mbita ...

in Lake Victoria.Gentry A. W. (2010) Bovidae, ''Cenozoic Mammals of Africa'', 747-803 Butchered bones found in 2011 with stone tools suggested that they had been killed by humans. In 2016, remains of an additional 26 better preserved individuals were discovered.

References

Fossil taxa described in 1983 Alcelaphinae Pleistocene mammals of Africa {{paleo-eventoedungulate-stub