Rusingoryx
| Rusingoryx Temporal range: Early Pleistocene – Late Pleistocene
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| File:Rusingoryx drinking.png | |
| Rusingoryx drinking | |
| Scientific classification Edit this classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Bovidae |
| Subfamily: | Alcelaphinae |
| Genus: | †Rusingoryx Pickford & Thomas, 1984 |
| Species: | †R. atopocranion
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| Binomial name | |
| †Rusingoryx atopocranion Pickford & Thomas, 1984
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| Synonyms | |
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Rusingoryx is a genus of extinct alcelaphine bovid artiodactyl closely related to the wildebeest. It contains only one species, R. atopocranion, that lived on the plains of Kenya during the Pleistocene.[1] 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 with the crests of hadrosaurid dinosaurs, which were used for display and vocalization.[1][2][3] Studies have shown that the Rusingoryx is a specialized grazing animal, with a preference for arid grasslands.[4][2] Rusingoryx was migratory.[5]
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.[3][6] Butchered bones found in 2011 with stone tools suggested that they had been killed by humans.[4][2] In 2016, remains of an additional 26 better preserved individuals were discovered.
References
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- ^ Gentry A. W. (2010) Bovidae, Cenozoic Mammals of Africa, 747-803
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