''Rusingoryx'' is a genus of extinct alcelaphine

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 ...

artiodactyl Artiodactyls are placental mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla ( , ). Typically, they are ungulates which bear weight equally on two (an even number) of their five toes (the third and fourth, often in the form of a hoof). The other t ...

closely related to the

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 ...

. It contains only one species, ''R. atopocranion'', that lived on the plains of

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

. It was originally named as a species of '' Megalotragus''. ''Rusingoryx'' is known for its strange pointed nose with a large nasal dome. This structure represents an instance of

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last comm ...

with the crests of

hadrosaurid Hadrosaurids (), also hadrosaurs or duck-billed dinosaurs, are members of the ornithischian family Hadrosauridae. This group is known as the duck-billed dinosaurs for the flat duck-bill appearance of the bones in their snouts. The ornithopod fami ...

dinosaurs Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

, which were used for display and vocalization. Studies have shown that the ''Rusingoryx'' is a specialized grazing animal, with a preference for arid grasslands. ''Rusingoryx'' was migratory. The first specimens, which were poorly preserved, were described in 1983, having been taken from a site called Bovid Hill on Rusinga Island in

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropics, tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface are ...

.Gentry A. W. (2010) Bovidae, ''Cenozoic Mammals of Africa'', 747-803 Butchered bones found in 2011 with stone tools suggested that they had been killed by humans. In 2016, remains of an additional 26 better preserved individuals were discovered.

References

Fossil taxa described in 1983 Alcelaphinae Pleistocene mammals of Africa {{paleo-eventoedungulate-stub