''Megalotragus'' (from Greek ''mega'' (μέλα) 'great' and ''tragos'' (τράγος) 'goat') is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of very large African alcelaphines that lived during the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...

.Thackeray, John Francis. (2015). Faunal Remains from Holocene Deposits, Excavation 1, Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa. African Archaeological Review. Its skull resembled that of modern

hartebeest The hartebeest (; ''Alcelaphus buselaphus''), also known as kongoni or kaama, is an Fauna of Africa, African antelope. It is the Monotypic taxon, only member of the genus ''Alcelaphus''. Eight subspecies have been described, including two som ...

s, but it differed in having a larger body size and

wildebeest Wildebeest ( , ,), also called gnu ( or ), are antelopes of the genus ''Connochaetes'' and native to Eastern and Southern Africa. They belong to the family Bovidae, which includes true antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep, and other even-toed ...

-like proportions. ''Megalotragus'' includes some of the largest

bovid The Bovidae comprise the family (biology), biological family of cloven-hoofed, ruminant mammals that includes Bos, cattle, bison, Bubalina, buffalo, antelopes (including Caprinae, goat-antelopes), Ovis, sheep and Capra (genus), goats. A member o ...

species in the subfamily

Alcelaphinae The subfamily Alcelaphinae (or Tribe (biology), tribe Alcelaphini), of the family Bovidae, contains the wildebeest, tsessebe, topi, hartebeest, blesbok and bontebok, and several other related species. Depending on the classification, there are 6� ...

, reaching a shoulder height of . The genus consists of three species of which ''Megalotragus priscus'' survived until the early Holocene 7.500 C14yBP.

Description

With a distance between the tips of its horns of around , ''Megalotragus'' is probably the largest alcelaphine bovid ever recorded, much bigger than the extant wildebeest. The skull of ''Megalotragus'' is similar to that of the

: characterized by extreme elongation, and the fusion and posterior placement of the horn pedicels. However, its postcrania and proportions are largely reminiscent of

: for instance, axes from ''Megalotragus'' are robust and compact, suggesting it had a robust, muscular neck that was likely held horizontally, much like black wildebeest. The nasal region of ''Megalotragus'' (with the exception of ''Megalotragus priscus'') is inflated and forms a domed structure. This is similar to the related '' Rusingoryx'' (once included in ''Megalotragus'') but not as extreme. The type species ''M. kattwinkeli'' has relatively short, curved horns. ''M. isaaci'' possessed longer horns, while ''M. priscus'' possessed the longest horns of all three species.

References

Alcelaphinae Prehistoric bovids Pliocene Artiodactyla Pleistocene Artiodactyla Pliocene first appearances Pleistocene genus extinctions Holocene extinctions Pliocene mammals of Africa Pleistocene mammals of Africa Prehistoric Artiodactyla genera Fossil taxa described in 1932 {{paleo-eventoedungulate-stub