Aepyceros

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Aepyceros
Temporal range: 3–0  Ma
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S
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PlioceneRecent
Aepyceros melampus petersi .jpg
Black-faced impala (Aepyceros melampus ssp. petersi)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Aepycerotinae
Gray, 1872
Tribe: Aepycerotini
Gray, 1872
Genus: Aepyceros
Sundevall, 1847
Type species
Antilope melampus
Lichtenstein, 1812.
Species

Aepyceros melampus - Impala
Aepyceros datoadeni
Aepyceros shungurae

Aepyceros is a genus of African antelope that contains a single living species, the impala. It is the only known member of the tribe Aepycerotini. [1]

Two extinct species are known, Aepyceros datoadeni [2] and Aepyceros shungurae . [3] A third species, Aepyceros premelampus has been transferred to a new genus, Afrotragus . [4]

Etymology

The generic name Aepyceros (lit. ‘high-horned’) comes from Ancient Greek αἰπύς (aipus, 'high, steep') + κέρας (keras, 'horn'). [5] [6]

References

  1. Database, Mammal Diversity (2021-11-06), Mammal Diversity Database, doi:10.5281/zenodo.5651212 , retrieved 2022-01-30
  2. Geraads, Denis; Bobe, René; Reed, Kaye (2012). "Pliocene Bovidae (Mammalia) from the Hadar Formation of Hadar and Ledi-Geraru, Lower Awash, Ethiopia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 32 (1): 180–197. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.632046. S2CID   86230742.
  3. Werdelin, Lars; Sanders, William Joseph (2010). Cenozoic Mammals of Africa. University of California Press. p. 765. ISBN   9780520257214.
  4. Denis Geraads (2019). "A reassessment of the Bovidae (Mammalia) from the Nawata Formation of Lothagam, Kenya, and the late Miocene diversification of the family in Africa". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 17 (2): 169–182. doi:10.1080/14772019.2017.1403493. S2CID   90461071.
  5. "Aepyceros". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary . Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  6. Briggs, M.; Briggs, P. (2006). The Encyclopedia of World Wildlife. Somerset, UK: Parragon Publishers. p. 114. ISBN   978-1-4054-8292-9.