Taurotragus
| Eland Temporal range: 20–0 Ma Early - Recent |
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| Taurotragus oryx | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Bovidae |
| Subfamily: | Bovinae |
| Genus: |
Taurotragus Wagner, 1855 |
| Type species | |
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Antilope oreas Pallas, 1777 |
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| Species | |
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Taurotragus is a genus of large antelopes of the African savanna, commonly known as elands. It contains two species: the common eland T. oryx and the giant eland T. derbianus.
Mountain nyala
Taurotragus is a genus of large African antelopes, placed under the subfamily Bovinae and family Bovidae. The genus authority is the German zoologist Johann Andreas Wagner, who first mentioned it in the journal Die Säugthiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur, mit Beschreibungen in 1855. The name is composed of two Greek words: Taurus or Tauros, meaning a bull or bullock; and Tragos, meaning a male goat, in reference to the tuft of hair that grows in the eland's ear which resembles a goat's beard.
The genus consists of two species:
Taurotragus is sometimes considered part of the genus Tragelaphus on the basis of molecular phylogenetics. Together with the bongo, giant eland and common eland are the only antelopes in the tribe Tragelaphini (consisting of Taurotragus and Tragelaphus) to be given a generic name other than Tragelaphus. Although some authors, like Theodor Haltenorth, regarded the giant eland as conspecific with the common eland, they are generally considered two distinct species.
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Wikipedia