Rusingoryx

Rusingoryx
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Cetartiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Alcelaphinae
Genus: Rusingoryx
Species: R. atopocranion
Binomial name
Rusingoryx atopocranion

Rusingoryx atopocranion is an extinct alcelaphine bovid artiodactyl closely related to the Wildebeest that lived on the plains of Kenya during the Pleistocene. It is known for its strange pointed nose with a large nasal dome that displays convergent evolution with hadrosaurid dinosaurs, which also had similar skulls.[1][2][3]

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.[2] Butchered bones found in 2011 with stone tools suggested that they had been killed by humans.[4][1] In 2016, remains of an addition 26 better preserved individuals.


References

  1. 1 2 "Revealed: Rusingoryx, an ancient wildebeest cousin with bizarre dinosaur traits". The Guardian. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Pleistocene Mammal Rusingoryx atopocranion Had Dinosaur-Like ‘Nose’". sci-news.com. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  3. ↑ Haley D. O’Brien, J. Tyler Faith, Kirsten E. Jenkins, Daniel J. Peppe, Thomas W. Plummer, Zenobia L. Jacobs, Bo Li, Renaud Joannes-Boyau, Gilbert Price, Yue-xing Feng and Christian A. Tryon (2016). "Unexpected Convergent Evolution of Nasal Domes between Pleistocene Bovids and Cretaceous Hadrosaur Dinosaurs". Current Biology 26 (4): 503–508. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.12.050.
  4. ↑ Faith, J. Tyler, et al. "Taxonomic status and paleoecology of Rusingoryx atopocranion (Mammalia, Artiodactyla), an extinct Pleistocene bovid from Rusinga Island, Kenya." Quaternary Research 75.3 (2011): 697-707.
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