Tragelaphus

Tragelaphus is a genus of medium-to-large-sized spiral-horned antelopes. It contains several species of bovines, 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. Elands, including the common eland, 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. Strepsiceros is a generic synonym. Genus Boocercus formerly contained T. eurycerus. The name "Tragelaphus" comes from the mythical tragelaph.

Tragelaphus

Uncredited · 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
TragelaphiniPBDB
Diet
browserPBDB
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Bovidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Artiodactyla

Time the record covers

At least 5.3 million years on record.

The record covers at least 5.333 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 411 occurrencesMiocene — about 16 of 411 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 91 of 411 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 272 of 411 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 1 occurrence10–9.4 Mya — about 1 occurrence9.4–8.6 Mya — about 1 occurrence8.6–7.8 Mya — about 1 occurrence7.8–7.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 3 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 3 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 13 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 15 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 32 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 74 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 126 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 68 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 67 occurrences5.333 Mya11.7 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

411 occurrences of Tragelaphus 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

411 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

41 formations

Shungura — 5.09°N, 36.02°EShungura — 5.02°N, 36.04°EShungura — 5.09°N, 36.06°EKoobi Fora — 4.26°N, 36.28°EKoobi Fora — 3.78°N, 36.33°EKoobi Fora — 3.77°N, 36.39°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 — 4.22°N, 36.43°EKoobi Fora — 3.93°N, 36.34°EKoobi Fora — 3.73°N, 36.43°EKoobi Fora — 3.70°N, 36.32°EKoobi Fora — 4.28°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 4.28°N, 36.38°EKoobi Fora — 4.06°N, 36.33°EKoobi Fora — 3.59°N, 36.24°ENachukui — 4.25°N, 35.79°ENachukui — 3.08°N, 35.83°ENachukui — 3.87°N, 35.70°ENachukui — 3.93°N, 35.76°ENachukui — 4.53°N, 35.75°ENachukui — 4.15°N, 35.74°ENachukui — 4.18°N, 35.78°ENachukui — 4.41°N, 35.83°ENachukui — 4.00°N, 35.73°ENachukui — 4.53°N, 35.92°ENachukui — 3.68°N, 35.75°ENachukui — 4.10°N, 35.77°ENachukui — 2.90°N, 36.05°EOlduvai — 2.96°S, 35.29°EOlduvai — 2.98°S, 34.32°EOlduvai — 2.98°S, 35.37°EVogel River Series — 3.20°S, 35.21°EVogel River Series — 3.01°S, 35.20°EVogel River Series — 3.26°S, 35.20°EVogel River Series — 3.13°S, 35.13°EHumbu — 2.33°S, 35.97°EWehaietu — 10.73°N, 40.42°EWehaietu — 10.90°N, 40.47°EWehaietu — 10.32°N, 40.55°EWehaietu — 10.63°N, 40.54°ESagantole — 10.62°N, 40.58°ESagantole — 10.50°N, 40.58°ESagantole — 10.45°N, 40.45°ESagantole — 10.52°N, 40.47°EVarswater — 32.98°S, 18.15°ENawata and Nachukui — 2.88°N, 36.07°ENawata and Nachukui — 2.90°N, 36.05°EHadar — 11.13°N, 40.58°ESwartkrans — 26.02°S, 27.72°EAdu-Asa — 10.32°N, 40.25°EAdu-Asa — 10.43°N, 40.42°EKapthurin — 0.50°N, 36.00°EChiwondo — 10.17°S, 34.00°EChiwondo — 9.83°S, 34.83°EChiwondo — 10.33°S, 34.17°EKanapoi — 2.37°N, 36.08°EKanapoi — 2.32°N, 36.07°EChemoigut — 0.65°N, 36.20°EWarwire — 1.50°N, 31.00°ELothagam 1 — 2.88°N, 36.07°EVarswater & Bredasdorp — 32.98°S, 18.15°EChemeron — 0.67°N, 35.83°EMakapansgat — 24.20°S, 28.95°EUSNO — 5.35°N, 36.17°EOlorgesailie — 1.57°S, 36.43°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Tragelaphus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 17 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 104 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Tragelaphus and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Tragelaphus and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

768 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 320 sites for Tragelaphus, and this reads 240 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

127 references

Each of the 411 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. 115 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 content2

Picture of Tragelaphus

Credit
nobody named on the record
Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

3D model

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

MorphoSource 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 itTragelaphini through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

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