View source for Tragelaphus

{{Short description|Genus of mammals}}
{{More citations needed|type=animal|date=March 2013}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Tragelaphus strepsiceros -Chobe River front, Botswana-8.jpg
| image_upright = 1.2
| image_caption = An adult male [[greater kudu]] by the [[Chobe River]], [[Botswana]]
| taxon = Tragelaphus
| authority = ([[Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville|Blainville]], 1816)
| type_species = ''[[Tragelaphus scriptus|Antilope sylvatica]]'' (= ''Antilope scripta'')<ref name = MSW3>{{MSW3 | id = 14200726|pages=697-699}}</ref>
| type_species_authority = Sparrman, 1780
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = ''[[Tragelaphus angasii]]''<br />
''[[Tragelaphus buxtoni]]''<br />
''[[Tragelaphus eurycerus]]''<br />
''[[Tragelaphus imberbis]]''<br />
''[[Harnessed bushbuck|Tragelaphus scriptus]]''<br />
''[[Tragelaphus spekii]]''<br />
''[[Tragelaphus strepsiceros]]''<br />
''[[Tragelaphus sylvaticus]]''
}}

'''''Tragelaphus''''' is a [[genus]] of medium-to-large-sized spiral-[[Horn (anatomy)|horn]]ed [[antelope]]s. It contains several species of [[bovine]]s, 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]]. [[Taurotragus|Elands]], including the [[common eland]] (''Taurotragus oryx''), 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 (taxonomy)|synonym]].<ref>{{ITIS|taxon=''Tragelaphus'' Blainville, 1816|id=624981|access-date=14 February 2025}}</ref>  Genus ''Boocercus'' formerly contained ''T. eurycerus''.<ref>{{ITIS|id=625130|taxon=''Tragelaphus eurycerus'' (Ogilby, 1837)|access-date=14 February 2025}}</ref> The name "Tragelaphus" comes from the mythical [[hircocervus|tragelaph]].

==Taxonomy and phylogeny==
{{cladogram|align=left|title=
|caption=Phylogenetic relationships of the mountain nyala from combined analysis of all molecular data (Willows-Munro et.al. 2005)
|cladogram={{clade | style=font-size:90%;line-height:100%;width:300px;
|1={{clade
|1={{clade |label1=
 |1= {{clade|label1=
           |1=
         {{clade
         |label1=
         |1={{clade
            |1={{clade
                |1={{clade
                   |1=[[Giant eland]]
                   |2=[[Common eland]]}}
                |2={{clade
                   |1=[[Greater kudu]]
                   |2={{clade
                       |1=[[Mountain nyala]]
                       |2={{Clade
                           |1={{clade
                              |1={{clade
                                  |1=[[Bongo (antelope)|Bongo]]
                                  |2=[[Sitatunga]]}}
                           |2={{Clade
                           |1={{clade
                              |1={{clade
                                  |1=[[Cape bushbuck]]
|2=[[Harnessed bushbuck]] }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} 
         |2=[[Lowland nyala]]}}
|2=[[Lesser kudu]] }} }} }} }} }} }}
''Tragelaphus'' {{IPAc-en|t|r|ə|ˈ|dʒ|ɛ|l|ə|f|ə|s}} is a genus in the tribe [[Tragelaphini]] and the family [[Bovidae]]. The [[Binomial nomenclature#Authority|genus authority]] is French zoologist [[Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville]], who first mentioned it in the journal ''Bulletin des Sciences, par la Société Philomatique'' in 1816.<ref name=MSW3/>  The name is not of modern scientific invention, but comes from ancient [[Greek language|Greek]] τραγέλαφος (''tragélaphos''), from τράγος (''trágos''), meaning a "male goat", and ἔλαφος (''élaphos''), meaning a "deer".<ref>{{MerriamWebsterDictionary|Tragelaphus|access-date=7 February 2016}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

==Extant species==
It is generally treated as having eight species, namely:{{citation needed|reason=MSW3 has seven species (excluding the elands). Grubb & Groves recognize ''T. sylvaticus'', but also a number of other species and generic splits. Where are these 8 recognised?|date=July 2020}}.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Male !! Female !!Common name !! Scientific name !!  Distribution
|-
|[[File:Bongo at Louisville Zoo (224080225).jpg|300px]] ||[[File:Mountain bongo mount kenya.jpg|300px]] ||[[Bongo (antelope)|Bongo]] ||''Tragelaphus eurycerus''||Kenya, Central and western Africa
|-
|[[File:Greater kudu in Chobe National Park 02.jpg|300px]] ||[[File:Female kudu in Moremi Game Reserve - Botswana - panoramio.jpg|300px]] ||[[Greater kudu]] ||''Tragelaphus strepsiceros''|| eastern and southern Africa
|-
|[[File:Flickr - Rainbirder - Imbabala Bushbuck (Tragelaphus sylvaticus).jpg|300px]] ||[[File:Cape bushbuck (Tragelaphus sylvaticus) female.jpg|300px]] ||[[Cape bushbuck]] ||''Tragelaphus sylvaticus''||  Cape in South Africa to Angola and Zambia and up the eastern part of Africa to Ethiopia and Somalia. 
|-
|[[File:Tragelaphus scriptus scriptus 344140137.jpg|300px]] ||[[File:Tragelaphus scriptus scriptus 344140111.jpg|300px]] ||[[Harnessed bushbuck]] ||''Tragelaphus scriptus''|| distributed from Senegal and southern Mauritania across the Sahel, east to Ethiopia, and south to Angola and the southern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
|-
|[[File:Lesser Kudu.jpg|300px]] ||[[File:Gfp-lesser-kudu.jpg|300px]] ||[[Lesser kudu]] ||''Tragelaphus imberbis''||Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda
|-
|[[File:Mountain nyala (Tragelaphus buxtoni) male.jpg|300px]] ||[[File:Tragelaphus buxtoni female.jpg|300px]] ||[[Mountain nyala]] ||''Tragelaphus buxtoni''||central Ethiopia. 
|-
|[[File:Nyala, male.jpg|300px]] ||[[File:Female Nyala, Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary.jpg|300px]] ||[[Lowland nyala]] or [[Nyala]]|| ''Tragelaphus angasii''||Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
|-
|[[File:Sitatunga 7984.jpg|300px]] ||[[File:Tragelaphus spekei Weibchen.jpg|300px]] ||[[Sitatunga]] ||''Tragelaphus spekii''|| Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, parts of Southern Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Burundi, Ghana, Botswana, Rwanda, Zambia, Gabon, the Central African Republic, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.
|-
|}

An alternative classification, supported by genetic data, would recognise 11 species in five groups, which could be treated as subgenera or full genera: (i) ''Nyala'' for ''T. angasii''; (ii) ''Ammelaphus'' for ''T. imberbis''; (iii) ''Taurotragus'' for the two elands (''T. oryx'' and ''T. derbianus''); (iv) ''Strepsiceros'' for ''T. strepsiceros'' and (v) ''Tragelaphus'' restricted to ''T. buxtoni'', ''T. spekei'', ''T. scriptus'', ''T. sylvaticus'' (Imbabala - separated from a polyphyletic ''T. scriptus'') and ''T. eurycerus''. In terms of divergence time estimates, a 2006 study showed that core ''Tragelaphus'' (now known to exclude ''T. angasii'' and ''T. imberbis'') diverged from ''[[Taurotragus]]'' (elands) towards the end of the [[Late Miocene]].<ref name="ropiquet">{{cite journal|last1=Ropiquet|first1=A.|title=Etude des radiations adaptatives au sein des Antilopinae (Mammalia, Bovidae)|journal=Ph.D. Thesis, Université Paris|date=2006|volume=6|issue=1–247}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Artiodactyla|R.4}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q311375}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Tragelaphus| ]]
[[Category:Tragelaphini]]
[[Category:Mammal genera]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville]]


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