Megalotragus

Megalotragus
Temporal range: Pliocene - early Holocene, 5–0.0055 Ma
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Megalotragus kattwinkeli skull
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Antilopinae
Tribe: Alcelaphini
Genus: †Megalotragus
van Hoepen, 1932
Type species
†Megalotragus kattwinkeli
Species
  • M. issaci Harris, 1991
  • M. kattwinkeli
  • M. priscus Broom, 1909

Megalotragus (from Greek mega (μέλα) 'great' and tragos (τράγος) 'goat') was a genus of very large extinct African alcelaphines that occurred from the Pliocene to early Holocene.[1][2] Its skull resembled that of modern hartebeests, but it differed in having a larger body size and wildebeest-like proportions.[3] Megalotragus includes some of the largest bovid species in the subfamily Alcelaphinae, reaching a shoulder height of 1.4 m (4.6 ft). The genus consists of three species of which Megalotragus priscus survived until the early Holocene 7.500 C14yBP.[2]

  1. ^ Turvey, S.T. (2009). Holocene mammal extinctions. In: Turvey, S.T. (editor) (2009). Holocene extinctions. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
  2. ^ a b Thackeray, John Francis. (2015). Faunal Remains from Holocene Deposits, Excavation 1, Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa. African Archaeological Review.
  3. ^ Brink, J.S. (2005). The Evolution of the Black Wildebeest, Connochaetes gnou, and Modern Large Mammal Faunas in Central Southern Africa (PDF) (PhD). University of Stellenbosch.