''Tragelaphus'' 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 medium- to large-sized, spiral-
horn
Horn most often refers to:
*Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound
** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments
*Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...
ed
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 ...
s. It contains several species of
bovine
Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including cattle, bison, African buffalo, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The evolutionary relationship betwee ...
s, all of which are relatively antelope-like. Species in this genus tend to be large in size and lightly built, and have long necks and considerable
sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...
. Elands, including the
common eland
The common eland (''Taurotragus oryx''), also known as the southern eland or eland antelope, is a savannah and plains antelope found in East and Southern Africa. It is a species of the family Bovidae and genus '' Taurotragus''. An adult male is ...
(''Taurotragus oryx''), are embedded within this genus, meaning that ''Taurotragus'' must be subsumed into ''Tragelaphus'' to avoid paraphyly. Alternatively, ''Taurotragus'' could be maintained as a separate genus, if the nyala and the lesser kudu are relocated to their own monospecific genera, respectively ''Nyala'' and ''Ammelaphus''. Other generic synonyms include ''Strepsiceros'' (which applies to ''T. strepsiceros'') and ''Boocercus'' (for ''T. eurycerus''). The name "Tragelaphus" comes from the mythical
tragelaph.
Taxonomy and phylogeny
''Tragelaphus'' is a genus in the tribe
Tragelaphini
The tribe Tragelaphini (sometimes referred to by some authors as "Strepsicerotini"), or the spiral-horned antelopes, are bovines that are endemic to sub- Sahara Africa. These include the bushbuck, kudus, and the elands. The scientific name is in ...
and the family
Bovidae
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, ...
. The
genus authority is French zoologist
Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville
Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville (; 12 September 1777 – 1 May 1850) was a French zoologist and anatomist.
Life
Blainville was born at Arques, near Dieppe. As a young man he went to Paris to study art, but ultimately devoted himself to natur ...
, who first mentioned it in the journal ''Bulletin des Sciences, par la Société Philomatique'' in 1816.
The name is not of modern scientific invention, but comes from ancient
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 ...
τραγέλαφος (''tragélaphos''), from τράγος (''trágos''), meaning a "male goat", and ἔλαφος (''élaphos''), meaning a "deer".
Extant species
It is generally treated as having eight species, namely:.
An alternative classification, supported by genetic data, would recognise 11 species in five groups, which could be treated as subgenera or full genera: (i) ''Nyala'' for ''T. angasii''; (ii) ''Ammelaphus'' for ''T. imberbis''; (iii) ''Taurotragus'' for the two elands (''T. oryx'' and ''T. derbianus''); (iv) ''Strepsiceros'' for ''T. strepsiceros'' and (v) ''Tragelaphus'' restricted to ''T. buxtoni'', ''T. spekei'', ''T. scriptus'', ''T. sylvaticus'' (Imbabala - separated from a polyphyletic ''T. scriptus'') and ''T. eurycerus''. In terms of divergence time estimates, a 2006 study showed that core ''Tragelaphus'' (now known to excude ''T. angasii'' and ''T. imberbis'') diverged from ''
Taurotragus
''Taurotragus'' is a genus of large antelopes of the African savanna, commonly known as elands. It contains two species: the common eland ''T. oryx'' and the giant eland ''T. derbianus''.
Taxonomy
''Taurotragus'' is a genus of large African ...
'' (elands) towards the end of the
Late Miocene
The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million ye ...
.
References
Bovines
Mammal genera
Taxa named by Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville
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