Hippotragus gigas

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Hippotragus gigas
Temporal range: Late Pliocene - Early Pleistocene
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Hippotraginae
Genus: Hippotragus
Species:
†H. gigas
Binomial name
†Hippotragus gigas
Leakey, 1965[1]

Hippotragus gigas is an extinct species of antelope known from the Plio-Pleistocene of Africa.

Taxonomy[]

Hippotragus gigas was discovered by Louis Leakey in 1965, who described it as "a Hippotragus of gigantic proportions".[2] Fossils were first found in Bed II of the Olduvai Gorge in eastern Africa, and have also been found at sites in Algeria and South Africa.[3]

Description[]

Based on molar size, this species was slightly larger than its living relatives and would have weighed around 300 kg (660 lb).[4] In addition to larger size, the molars can be distinguished by their rounded cusps, large basal pillars, rounded ribs and the large goat folds on lower molars. Its horn cores were also less mediolaterally compressed than its relatives.[5] H. gigas also had a reduced premolar row compared to living Hippotragus species. This is a derived trait for the genus, which suggests that the living species are not descended from H. gigas.[4]

References[]

  1. ^ "Hippotragus gigas". Fossilworks.
  2. ^ Brain, C.K. (1983). The Hunters Or the Hunted? An Introduction to African Cave Taphonomy. University of Chicago Press. p. 172.
  3. ^ O'Regan, H.J. (2005). "Large mammal turnover in Africa and the Levant between 1.0 and 0.5 Ma". Geological Society London Special Publications. 247 (1): 231–249. doi:10.1144/GSL.SP.2005.247.01.13.
  4. ^ a b Faysal, B. (2018). "Paleoecology of the Serengeti during the Oldowan-Acheulean transition at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania: The mammal and fish evidence". Journal of Human Evolution. 120: 48–75. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.10.009. hdl:10138/303935.
  5. ^ Bubenik, Anthony B. (2012). Horns, Pronghorns, and Antlers: Evolution, Morphology, Physiology, and Social Significance. Springer New York. p. 213. ISBN 9781461389668.
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