Antidorcas bondi | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Family: | Bovidae |
Subfamily: | Antilopinae |
Tribe: | Antilopini |
Genus: | Antidorcas |
Species: | †A. bondi |
Binomial name | |
†Antidorcas bondi (Cooke and Wells, 1951) [1] | |
Synonyms | |
Gazella bondi |
Antidorcas bondi, or Bond's springbok, is an extinct species of antelope whose fossils have been found in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Originally described as a species of gazelle, it was found to be related to the modern springbok based on cranial morphology. Due to its exceptionally hypsodont teeth, together with isotopic evidence, Bond's springbok is considered a specialized grazer. [2]
Bond's springbok survived past the Pleistocene in South Africa, surviving until as recently as 5,000 BC. [3]
The springbok or springbuck 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 von Zimmermann in 1780. Three subspecies are identified. A slender, long-legged antelope, the springbok reaches 71 to 86 cm at the shoulder and weighs between 27 and 42 kg. Both sexes have a pair of black, 35-to-50 cm (14-to-20 in) long horns that curve backwards. The springbok is characterised by a white face, a dark stripe running from the eyes to the mouth, a light-brown coat marked by a reddish-brown stripe that runs from the upper fore leg to the buttocks across the flanks like the Thomson's gazelle, and a white rump flap.
Palaeoloxodon is an extinct genus of elephant. The genus originated in Africa during the Pliocene-Early Pleistocene, and expanded into Eurasia at the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene. The genus contains some of the largest known species of elephants, over 4 metres (13 ft) tall at the shoulders, including the African Palaeoloxodon recki, the European straight-tusked elephant and the South Asian Palaeoloxodon namadicus. P. namadicus has been suggested to be the largest known land mammal by some authors based on extrapolation from fragmentary remains, though these estimates are highly speculative. In contrast, the genus also contains many species of dwarf elephants that evolved via insular dwarfism on islands in the Mediterranean, some only 1 metre (3.3 ft) in height, making them the smallest elephants known. The genus has a long and complex taxonomic history, and at various times, it has been considered to belong to Loxodonta or Elephas, but today is usually considered a valid and separate genus in its own right.
Stegodon is an extinct genus of proboscidean, related to elephants. It was originally assigned to the family Elephantidae along with modern elephants but is now placed in the extinct family Stegodontidae. Like elephants, Stegodon had teeth with plate-like lophs that are different from those of more primitive proboscideans like gomphotheres and mammutids. The oldest fossils of the genus are found in Late Miocene strata in Asia, likely originating from the more archaic Stegolophodon, shortly afterwards migrating into Africa. While the genus became extinct in Africa during the Pliocene, Stegodon remained widespread in South, Southeast and East Asia until the end of the Pleistocene.
Cornelia is a town on the R103 road in the Free State province of South Africa. In 1875 DJ Steyn bought the farm "Mooiheid", after raising sufficient funds with his hit debut album, and J.D. Odendaal bought the farm "Sugarloaf" for a sum of R2,000. They settled there in 1876. At that time it was in the Harrismith district. There were no boundary fences and wild dogs, warthogs and wildebeest were plentiful in the open grassveld.
The antilopines are even-toed ungulates belonging to the subfamily Antilopinae of the family Bovidae. The members of tribe Antilopini are often referred to as true antelopes, and include the gazelles, blackbucks, springboks, gerenuks, dibatags, and Central Asian gazelles. True antelopes occur in much of Africa and Asia, with the highest concentration of species occurring in East Africa in Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, and Tanzania. The saiga inhabits Central and Western Asia, mostly in regions from the Tibetan Plateau and north of the Indian Subcontinent. The dwarf antelope species of tribe Neotragini live entirely in sub-Saharan Africa.
Antidorcas is a genus of antelope that includes the living springbok and several fossil species.
The saiga antelope, or saiga, is a species of 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 the southwest into Mongolia in the northeast and Dzungaria in the southeast. During the Pleistocene, it ranged across the mammoth steppe from the British Isles to Beringia. Today, the dominant subspecies only occurs in Kalmykia and Astrakhan Oblast of Russia and in the Ural, Ustyurt and Betpak-Dala regions of Kazakhstan. A portion of the Ustyurt population migrates south to Uzbekistan and occasionally to Turkmenistan in winter. It is regionally extinct in Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, Xinjiang and southwestern Mongolia. The Mongolian subspecies occurs only in western Mongolia.
The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as the upper Pleistocene from a stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently defined as the time between c. 129,000 and c. 11,700 years ago. The late Pleistocene equates to the proposed Tarantian Age of the geologic time scale, preceded by the officially ratified Chibanian and succeeded by the officially ratified Greenlandian. The estimated beginning of the Tarantian is the start of the Eemian interglacial period. It is held to end with the termination of the Younger Dryas, some 11,700 years ago when the Holocene Epoch began.
Hexaprotodon is an extinct genus of hippopotamid known from Asia and possibly Africa and Europe. The name Hexaprotodon means "six front teeth" as some of the fossil forms have three pairs of incisors.
Makapania is an extinct genus of large caprine or ovibovine from the Pliocene and Pleistocene of southern and East Africa. It is remarkable in that its horns were positioned laterally. Its body weight is estimated to have been about 263 kg.
The Late Pleistocene to the beginning of the Holocene saw numerous extinctions of predominantly megafaunal (large) animal species, which resulted in a collapse in faunal density and diversity across the globe. The extinctions during the Late Pleistocene are differentiated from previous extinctions by the widespread absence of ecological succession to replace these extinct megafaunal species, and the regime shift of previously established faunal relationships and habitats as a consequence. The timing and severity of the extinctions varied by region and are thought to have been driven by varying combinations of human and climatic factors. Human impact on megafauna populations is thought to have been driven by hunting ("overkill") as well as possibly environmental alteration. The relative importance of human vs climatic factors in the extinctions has been the subject of long-running controversy.
A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus Gazella. There are also seven species included in two further genera; Eudorcas and Nanger, which were formerly considered subgenera of Gazella. A third former subgenus, Procapra, includes three living species of Asian gazelles.
Chelonoidis is a genus of turtles in the tortoise family erected by Leopold Fitzinger in 1835. They are found in South America and the Galápagos Islands, and formerly had a wide distribution in the West Indies.
Proterotheriidae is an extinct family of litoptern ungulates known from the Oligocene-Late Pleistocene of South America. Members of the group were small-medium sized cursorial herbivores with brachydont teeth, with their toes showing progressive reduction, with later members of the group bearing weight on a single large toe similar to living horses.
The narrow-nosed rhinoceros, also known as the steppe rhinoceros is an extinct species of rhinoceros belonging to the genus Stephanorhinus that lived in western Eurasia, including Europe, as well as North Africa during the Pleistocene. It first appeared in Europe some 600,000 years ago during the Middle Pleistocene and survived there until as recently as 40,000 years before present.
Neolicaphrium is an extinct genus of ungulate mammal belonging to the extinct order Litopterna. This animal lived from the Late Pliocene (Chapadmalalan) to the Late Pleistocene (Lujanian) in southern South America, being the last survivor of the family Proterotheriidae.
The Bundu Farm site is a kidney shape depression of land located in the Bushmanland region of Northern Cape, South Africa. The excavations at this site during 1998-2003 had unearthed a sequence of archaeological remains including Earlier, Middle and Later Stone Age assemblages and preserved fauna. These discoveries give an insight into the occupation of the Bushmanland prehistoric people and possible connection of cultures and traditions between the central interior and the West coast of South Africa.
Antidorcas australis, also known as the southern springbok, is an extinct species of antelope from the Pleistocene and Holocene of South Africa. It is a close relative of the living springbok.
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Minnaar's Cave, or simply Minnaar, is a palaeontological site located in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, Gauteng province, South Africa. Lost after its discovery in the 1930s, its location was rediscovered in 2009. It is known for its well-preserved jackal skulls, dating to the Plio-Pleistocene at least 2 million years ago.