''Antidorcas'' is a genus of
antelope
The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia.
Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mamm ...
that includes the living
springbok
The springbok (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is a medium-sized antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm ...
and several fossil species.
Modern Taxonomy
In 2013, Eva Verena Bärmann (of the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
) and colleagues undertook a revision of the
phylogeny
A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spe ...
of the
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...
Antilopini
Antilopini is a tribe of bovids often referred as true antelopes like gazelles. They live in and around the Sahara, Horn of Africa, throughout eastern and southern Africa, and Eurasia. Depending on species, the females have either very short and/ ...
on the basis of
nuclear
Nuclear may refer to:
Physics
Relating to the nucleus of the atom:
*Nuclear engineering
*Nuclear physics
*Nuclear power
*Nuclear reactor
*Nuclear weapon
*Nuclear medicine
*Radiation therapy
*Nuclear warfare
Mathematics
*Nuclear space
* Nuclear ...
and
mitochondrial data. They showed that the springbok and the
gerenuk
The gerenuk (; so, garanuug; ''Litocranius walleri''), also known as the giraffe gazelle, is a long-necked antelope found in parts of East Africa. The sole member of the genus ''Litocranius'', the gerenuk was first described by the naturalist ...
(''Litocranius walleri'') form a
clade with
saiga
The saiga antelope (, ''Saiga tatarica''), or saiga, is a critically endangered antelope which during antiquity inhabited a vast area of the Eurasian steppe spanning the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains in the northwest and Caucasus in ...
(''Saiga tatarica'') as
sister taxon
In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree.
Definition
The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram:
Taxon A and ...
.
[ ] The study pointed out that the saiga and the springbok could be considerably different from the rest of the antilopines; a 2007 phylogenetic study even suggested that the two form a clade sister to the gerenuk.
The
cladogram
A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to ...
below is based on the 2013 study.
[
]
Species
*'' Antidorcas marsupialis'' - Springbok
The springbok (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is a medium-sized antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm ...
*†'' Antidorcas australis''
*†''Antidorcas bondi
''Antidorcas bondi'', or Bond's springbok, is an extinct species of antelope
The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia.
Antelope comprise a wasteba ...
''
*†'' Antidorcas recki''
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q10734306
Mammal genera
Mammal genera with one living species
Taxa named by Carl Jakob Sundevall
True antelopes