Alcelaphus

The hartebeest, 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 independent species. A large antelope, the hartebeest stands just over 1 m at the shoulder, and has a typical head-and-body length of 2 to 2.50 m. The weight ranges from 100 to 200 kg. It has a particularly elongated forehead and oddly-shaped horns, a short neck, and pointed ears. Its legs, which often have black markings, are unusually long. The coat is generally short and shiny. Coat colour varies by the subspecies, from the sandy brown of the western hartebeest to the chocolate brown of the Swayne's hartebeest. Both sexes of all subspecies have horns, with those of females being slenderer. Horns can reach lengths of 45–70 cm (18–28 in). Apart from its long face, the large chest and the sharply sloping back differentiate the hartebeest from other antelopes. A conspicuous hump over the shoulders is due to the long dorsal processes of the vertebrae in this region.

Alcelaphus

D. Gordon E. Robertson · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
hartebeestPBDB
Sits inside
AlcelaphiniPBDB
Diet
grazerPBDB
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Bovidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Artiodactyla

Time the record covers

At least 2.5 million years on record.

The record covers at least 2.58 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 5.333 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 0 of 151 occurrencesPliocene — about 7 of 151 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 114 of 151 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 30 of 151 occurrences5.4–5.3 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences5.3–5.1 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences5.1–4.9 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.9–4.7 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.7–4.5 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.5–4.3 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.3–4.1 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.1–3.9 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences3.9–3.7 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences3.7–3.5 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences3.5–3.3 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences3.3–3.1 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences3.1–2.9 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences2.9–2.7 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences2.7–2.5 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.5–2.3 Mya — about 7 occurrences2.3–2.1 Mya — about 7 occurrences2.1–1.9 Mya — about 7 occurrences1.9–1.8 Mya — about 7 occurrences1.8–1.6 Mya — about 8 occurrences1.6–1.4 Mya — about 8 occurrences1.4–1.2 Mya — about 8 occurrences1.2–972 ka Mya — about 8 occurrences972 ka–778 ka Mya — about 8 occurrences778 ka–583 ka Mya — about 7 occurrences583 ka–389 ka Mya — about 7 occurrences389 ka–194 ka Mya — about 7 occurrences194 ka–0 Mya — about 50 occurrences2.58 Mya11.7 ka5.8 Mya0 Mya

151 occurrences of Alcelaphus on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

151 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

15 formations

Gebel Silsila-YCS — 24.50°N, 33.00°EGabal Silsila — 24.77°N, 32.95°EGabal Silsila — 24.43°N, 32.95°EOlduvai — 2.97°S, 35.32°EOlduvai — 2.98°S, 35.37°EChiwondo — 10.17°S, 34.00°EChiwondo — 10.00°S, 33.92°EChiwondo — 10.05°S, 33.96°EHumbu — 2.33°S, 35.97°EChemoigut — 0.65°N, 36.20°EKapthurin — 0.50°N, 36.00°EShungura — 5.09°N, 36.03°EShungura — 5.05°N, 36.02°EShungura — 5.09°N, 36.06°ENubia — 16.25°N, 33.75°EWehaietu — 10.63°N, 40.54°EOlorgesailie — 1.57°S, 36.44°EMbuga Clays — 3.87°S, 33.70°EMatabaietu — 10.55°N, 40.58°EFejej — 5.00°N, 37.00°EMakapansgat — 24.20°S, 28.95°E

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The named rock units Alcelaphus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 101 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Alcelaphus and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Alcelaphus and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

627 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 148 sites for Alcelaphus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

76 references

Each of the 151 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 64 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Alcelaphus

Credit
D. Gordon E. Robertson
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Alcelaphus buselaphus · zmh-s:7487

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution-NonCommercial
Commercial use
the licence does not allow it

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itAlcelaphini through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Blainville 1816