There are two species of large bovines in the genus Taurotragus, the Common Eland (T. oryx) and the Giant (or Derby's) Eland (T. derbianus). Based largely on molecular and chromosomal studies (e.g., Fernández and Vrba 2005; Willows-Munro et al. 2005; Rubes et al. 2008), some authorities subsume the genus Taurotragus within Tragelaphus. The most striking feature of elands is their massive size, especially of the males.
Both male and female Common Elands have spiraled horns and a pendulous dewlap, which in older males may hang like a curtain to below the knees. Males develop a dark crest of tufted hair on their foreheads. Historically, the Common Eland ranged widely across southern and East Africa, but it now occupies only around half of the historical range. Common Elands are associated with woodland and woodland-savannah, although they are relatively flexible in their habitat preferences. In the late 1990s, the total Common Eland population was estimated to be around 136,000. This species is now extinct in Burundi and declining in some parts of its range, but in general seems relatively stable. Around half the remaining individuals are in protected areas and perhaps another third on private ranches. Because of the value of the value of this animal to trophy hunters, poaching can be a significant problem in some areas, although habitat loss is currently the greatest threat. Semi-domesticated populations are (or have been) established in Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Russia, Ukraine, Great Britain, and the United States..
Despite their name, Giant Elands are actually generally smaller than Common Elands, but their horns are substantially larger (as are their ears). The dewlap of the Giant Eland begins under the chin (rather than at the throat, as in the Common Eland) and ends mid-neck. Giant Elands have much narrower habitat requirements than do Common Elands, being limited to broadleaf woodland savannahs, generally those dominated by the leguminous tree Isoberlinia doka, which makes up a major part of their diet. The Giant Elandis uncommon in grassland savannahs. This species once occurred in a continuous band across Central Africa from Gambia to the White Nile. It is now extinct in Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, and Togo. Today, Giant Elands are found only in three disjunct populations in (1) southeastern Senegal, northern Guinea, southwestern Mali, and possibly eastern Guinea-Bissau; (2) northern Cameroon, southwestern Chad, and possibly eastern and central Nigeria; and (3) Central African Republic, southeastern Chad, southwestern Sudan, and possibly northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo and northwestern Uganda. The total population is probably around 15,000 to 20,000. Only 200 or fewer individuals remain in West Africa, mainly in Senegal. Hunting has eliminated this species from much of its former range and a 1983 rinderpest epidemic took a serious toll on the global population.
Elands are widely hunted and this hunting pressure, in combination with habitat loss, has led to their diappearance from much of their former range, although Common Elands are still widely distributed and well represented in national parks and are even semi-domesticated as exotics in several countries.
(Kingdon 1997; Leslie 2011)
The relationship between humans and eland is one that dates back through the ages, as is indicated by the prevalence of eland paintings in Bushmen rock art. As Tim Forssman and Lee Gutteridge explain in their book ‘Bushman Rock Art: an interpretive guide’: “Both the /Xam and Kalahari Bushmen believed the eland was the most powerful animal of all…This power, or potency, was harnessed by shamans in order to enter the spirit world where they would perform various tasks including healing, protecting the community or controlling the rain”. Common Eland, along with the Giant Eland (Taurotragus derbianus), are the largest and slowest antelopes in the world. However, despite their lumbering load and slow pace, they have incredible running endurance and can jump 8ft high from standing position. These grazing beasts occur in grasslands and woodlands from South Africa in the south, to Angola in the west, to Ethiopia in the east, and into the Sudan in the north. They have an IUCN status of Least Concern. Although widely distributed, their densities typically remain low as a result of human settlement and poaching.For more information visit the MammalMAP virtual museum or blog.
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.
Taurotragus /təˈrɒtrəɡəs/ 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.[1] The name is composed of two Greek words: ταῦρος (taûros), meaning a "bull" or "bullock",[2][3] and τράγος (trágos), meaning a "male goat"—in reference to the tuft of hair that grows in the eland's ear which resembles a goat's beard.[4]
The genus consists of two species:[1]
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.[8] Although some authors, like Theodor Haltenorth, regarded the giant eland as conspecific with the common eland, they are generally considered two distinct species.[9]
The eland have 31 male chromosomes and 32 female chromosomes. In a 2008 phylogenomic study of spiral-horned antelopes, chromosomal similarities were observed between cattle (Bos taurus) and eight species of spiral-horned antelopes, namely: nyala (Tragelaphus angasii), lesser kudu (T. imberbis), bongo (T. eurycerus), bushbuck (T. scriptus), greater kudu (T. strepsiceros), sitatunga (T. spekei), giant eland and common eland. It was found that chromosomes involved in centric fusions in these species used a complete set of cattle painting probes generated by laser microdissection. The study confirmed the presence of the chromosome translocation known as Robertsonian translocation (1;29), a widespread evolutionary marker common to all known tragelaphid species.[10]
An accidental mating between a male giant eland and a female kudu produced a male offspring, but it was azoospermic. Analysis showed that it completely lacked germ cells, which produce gametes. Still, the hybrid had a strong male scent and exhibited male behaviour. Chromosomal examination showed that chromosomes 1, 3, 5, 9, and 11 differed from the parental karyotypes. Notable mixed inherited traits were pointed ears as the eland's, but a bit widened like kudu's. The tail was half the length of that of an eland, with a terminal tuft of hair as in kudu.[11] Female elands can also act as surrogates for bongos.[8]
The bovid ancestors of the eland evolved approximately 20 million years ago in Africa; fossils are found throughout Africa and France but the best record appears in sub-Saharan Africa. The first members of the tribe Tragelaphini appear 6 million years in the past during the late Miocene. An extinct ancestor of the common eland (Taurotragus arkelli) appears in the Pleistocene in northern Tanzania and the first T. oryx fossil appears in the Holocene in Algeria.[8] Previous genetic studies of African savanna ungulates revealed the presence of a long-standing Pleistocene refugium in eastern and southern Africa, which also includes the giant eland. The common eland and giant eland have been estimated to have diverged about 1.6 million years ago.[12]
_3_crop.jpg)
Both the species of eland are large spiral-horned antelopes. Though the giant eland broadly overlaps in size with the common eland, the former is somewhat larger on average than the latter. In fact, the giant eland is the largest species of antelope in the world.[13][14][15][16] Eland are sexually dimorphic, as the females are smaller than males. The two eland species are nearly similar in height, ranging from 130–180 cm (51–71 in).[17] In both species, males typically weigh 400 to 1,000 kg (880 to 2,200 lb) while females weigh 300 to 600 kg (660 to 1,320 lb).[17][18]
The coat of the common eland is tan for females, and darker with a bluish tinge for males.[19] The giant eland is reddish-brown to chestnut. The coat of the common eland varies geographically; the eland in southern Africa lack the distinctive markings (torso stripes, markings on legs, dark garters and a spinal crest) present in those from the northern half of the continent. Similarly, the giant eland displays 8 to 12 well-defined vertical white torso stripes. In both species the coat of the males darken with age. According to zoologist Jakob Bro-Jørgensen, the colour of the male's coat can reflect the levels of androgens (male sex hormones), which are highest during rutting.[20]
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.
