Pelorovis

Pelorovis
Temporal range: Early Pleistocene-Late Pleistocene, 2.5–0.8 Ma
↓
Pelorovis oldowayensis Skull
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Bovinae
Genus: †Pelorovis
Reck, 1928
Species
  • †Pelorovis howelli Hadjouis & Sahnouni, 2005
  • †Pelorovis kaisensis Geraads & Thomas, 1994
  • †Pelorovis oldowayensis Reck, 1928
  • †Pelorovis turkanensis Harris, 1991

Pelorovis ("prodigious/monstrous sheep"[1]) is an extinct genus of African wild cattle which existed during the Pleistocene epoch.[2] The best known species is Pelorovis oldowayensis from Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, from the Early Pleistocene. The species "Pelorovis" antiquus from the Late Pleistocene-Holocene has since been moved into Syncerus, the same genus as living African buffalo.

  1. ^ Donald R. Prothero (November 15, 2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Prehistoric Mammals. Princeton University Press. p. 184. ISBN 9780691156828. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
  2. ^ Alan Turner & Mauricio Anton: Evolving Eden, An Illustrated Guide to the Evolution of the African Large-Mammal Fauna. Columbia University Press, New York 2004 ISBN 0-231-11944-5 (pp. 159-167)