Megalotragus

Megalotragus is an extinct genus of very large African alcelaphines that lived from the Pliocene to early Holocene. Its skull resembled that of modern hartebeests, but it differed in having a larger body size and wildebeest-like proportions. 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.

Megalotragus

the paleobear · CC BY 2.0 · 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
Sits inside
AlcelaphinaPBDB
Diet
grazer, browserPBDB, for Bovidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Bovidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Artiodactyla

Time the record covers

At least 780 thousand years on record.

The record covers at least 2.58 Mya to 1.8 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 5.333 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 0 of 73 occurrencesPliocene — about 10 of 73 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 63 of 73 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 0 of 73 occurrences5.4–5.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.3–5.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences5.1–4.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.9–4.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.7–4.5 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.5–4.3 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.3–4.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.1–3.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.9–3.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.7–3.5 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences3.5–3.3 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.3–3.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.1–2.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.9–2.7 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.7–2.5 Mya — about 3 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 6 occurrences1.6–1.4 Mya — about 6 occurrences1.4–1.2 Mya — about 6 occurrences1.2–972 ka Mya — about 6 occurrences972 ka–778 ka Mya — about 6 occurrences778 ka–583 ka Mya — about 1 occurrence583 ka–389 ka Mya — about 1.0 occurrences389 ka–194 ka Mya — about 1.0 occurrences194 ka–0 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences2.58 Mya1.8 Mya5.8 Mya0 Mya

73 occurrences of Megalotragus 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

73 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

9 formations

Koobi Fora — 4.29°N, 36.23°EKoobi Fora — 3.90°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 3.98°N, 36.32°EKoobi Fora — 4.07°N, 36.37°EKoobi Fora — 3.87°N, 36.37°EKoobi Fora — 4.31°N, 36.28°EKoobi Fora — 4.23°N, 36.43°EKoobi Fora — 3.75°N, 36.36°EKoobi Fora — 4.24°N, 36.28°EKoobi Fora — 3.94°N, 36.25°EKoobi Fora — 4.28°N, 36.38°EKoobi Fora — 4.06°N, 36.33°ENachukui — 4.00°N, 35.73°ENachukui — 4.25°N, 35.79°ENachukui — 3.87°N, 35.72°ENachukui — 4.11°N, 35.73°ENachukui — 4.17°N, 35.74°ENachukui — 4.18°N, 35.78°ENachukui — 4.67°N, 35.75°ENachukui — 4.53°N, 35.92°ESwartkrans — 26.02°S, 27.72°EChiwondo — 9.83°S, 34.83°EChiwondo — 10.33°S, 34.17°EChiwondo — 10.17°S, 34.00°EMbuga Clays — 3.88°S, 33.97°ESterkfontein — 26.02°S, 27.73°ERietputs — 28.53°S, 24.47°EKromdraai — 26.00°S, 27.75°EOlorgesailie — 1.57°S, 36.44°E

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The named rock units Megalotragus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 9 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Megalotragus and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Megalotragus and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

412 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 72 sites for Megalotragus, 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

25 references

Each of the 73 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. 13 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 content1

Picture of Megalotragus

Credit
the paleobear
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Megalotragus was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

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 itAlcelaphina through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. van Hoepen 1932