Syncerus antiquus
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene - Holocene
Skull of Syncerus antiquus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Bovinae
Genus: Syncerus
Species:
†S. antiquus
Binomial name
†Syncerus antiquus
(Duvernoy, 1851)
Synonyms
  • Bubalus antiquus
  • Bubalus bainii
  • Bubalus nilssoni
  • Homoioceras antiquus
  • Pelorovis antiquus

Syncerus antiquus is an extinct species of buffalo from the Late Pleistocene and Holocene of Africa.[1] It was one of the largest species in its family, potentially weighing up to 2,000 kilograms (4,400 lb). Due to this fact, it is sometimes known as the African giant buffalo. The time of its extinction is of debate; Syncerus antiquus either became extinct at the end of the Late Pleistocene about 12,000 years ago or during the Holocene, some 4,000 years ago.[2][3]

Taxonomy

Syncerus antiquus was described by Georges Louis Duvernoy in 1851 from a skull discovered along the Bou Sellam River near the city of Sétif, Algeria. It was found at one meter in depth, when excavating the foundations of a new mill, and subsequently sent to Paris.[1][4] Duvernoy believed this species to be closely related to the Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) and classified it as Bubalus antiquus. Several other fossils of S. antiquus were described under the names Bubalus bainii and Bubalus nilssoni.

In 1949, Dorothy Bate recognized that these buffaloes were conspecific and not related to Bubalus, so she placed these fossils in a new genus, Homoioceras.[5] However, the type species of Homoiceros was found to be synonymous with the living Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer), invalidating the genus. It was subsequently moved to Pelorovis in 1978.[6][7] However, a link with the living Cape buffalo has been noted based on morphological and systematic grounds, and since 1994 it has been suggested that P. antiquus be moved into Syncerus.[8] This proposal has since gained widespread acceptance.[3]

Description

Skull of Syncerus antiquus

Syncerus antiquus holds the distinction of being the largest bovid described from Africa.[3] According to Auguste Pomel, who was able to examine numerous fossils in Algeria, S. antiquus may have reached 3 metres (9.8 ft) in length from muzzle to the end of the tail, 1.85 metres (6.1 ft) in height at the withers, and 1.7 metres (5.6 ft) in height at the hindquarters.[4][9] The distance between the tips of its horns was as large as 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in).[4] It probably weighed about 1,200 kilograms (2,600 lb) on average, though the largest males could have potentially attained weights of up to 2,000 kilograms (4,400 lb).[10]

One of the defining features of Syncerus antiquus are its massive horns. The largest horn cores can reach sizes of as much as 3 metres (9.8 ft) from tip to tip. The horns resembled those of the wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) in shape.[4]

Distribution

This buffalo had the broadest geographic distribution of any recently extinct species of African bovid, being widespread throughout eastern, southern and northern Africa.[3] Material has been dated to the Late Pleistocene, between 107 and 13 ka.[11]

However, rock art from North Africa seemingly depicting Syncerus antiquus suggests that this species survived into the Holocene.[12] Possible fossils of S. antiquus have also been found in Holocene deposits.

Paleoecology

Restoration of Syncerus antiquus (far left)

Due to possessing such vast horns, it seems likely that Syncerus antiquus was limited to wide-open areas with few trees.[8] Isotopic and mesowear evidence indicate that it was a grazer, and its massive body size suggests that it consumed large quantities of low-quality forage.[13]

Judging from the rock art, it seems pairs of the male animals (testes are illustrated) would fight by ramming each other's horns with their heads lowered – this is illustrated numerous times. Rock art also suggests that it may have lived in large herds.[4]

Recent survival and extinction

Rock art of "great bubaline" from northern Africa, thought to depict S. antiquus

A large amount of rock art has been found illustrating the species Syncerus antiquus in the Maghreb, the Atlas, the Sahara and near to the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of North Africa. The art is found in a wide band stretching from Tunisia through Algeria to Morocco. This art not only indicates that the buffalo may have survived until recent times, it also indicates these animals were being actively hunted with spears, possibly by the first of the Berber peoples.[4]

Its extinction has been variously attributed to human predation, climatic change, or some combination of the two.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 Duvernoy, Georges Louis (December 1851). "note sur une espèce de buffle fossile [Bubalis (Arni) antiquus], découverte en Algérie, caractérisée et décrite par M. Duvernoy". Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des Sciences (in French). 33: 595–597. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  2. ↑ Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999 ISBN 0-8018-5789-9
  3. 1 2 3 4 Faith, J. Tyler (2014). "Late Pleistocene and Holocene mammal extinctions on continental Africa". Earth-Science Reviews. 128: 105–121. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2013.10.009.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Camps, Gabriel (1992). "Bubalus antiquus". In Camps, Gabriel (ed.). Encyclopédie Berbère (in French). Aix-en-Provence: Edisud. pp. 1642–1647. doi:10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.1875. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  5. ↑ Bate, Dorothea M.A. (1949). "A new African fossil long-horned buffalo". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 2 (17): 396–398. doi:10.1080/00222934908526730.
  6. ↑ Maglio, Vincent J.; Cooke, H. B. S., eds. (1978). Evolution of African Mammals. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. pp. 540–572. doi:10.4159/harvard.9780674431263. ISBN 9780674431256.
  7. ↑ Martínez-Navarro, Bienvenido; Pérez-Claros, Juan Antonio; Palombo, Maria Rita; Rook, Lorenzo; Palmqvist, Paul (September 2007). "The Olduvai buffalo Pelorovis and the origin of Bos" (PDF). Quaternary Research. 68 (2): 220–226. Bibcode:2007QuRes..68..220M. doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2007.06.002. S2CID 55104027. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 Klein, Richard G. (November 1994). "The Long-Horned African Buffalo (Pelorovis antiquus) is an Extinct Species". Journal of Archaeological Science. 21 (6): 725–733. doi:10.1006/jasc.1994.1072.
  9. ↑ Pomel, Auguste (1893). Bubalus antiquus. Carte de Géologie de l’Algérie - Paléontologie Monographies de Vertébrés (in French). Algiers: imprimerie P. Fontana. pp. 1–94, pl.1-10. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.13867.
  10. ↑ Donald R. Prothero (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Prehistoric Mammals. Princeton University Press. p. 184. ISBN 9780691156828. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  11. ↑ Klein, R.G. (1980). "Environmental and ecological implications of large mammals from Upper Pleistocene and Holocene sites in southern Africa". Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 81: 223–283. doi:10.1016/0033-5894(91)90019-2. S2CID 59359208.
  12. ↑ Gautier, A.; Muzzolini, A. (1991). "The life and times of the giant buffalo alias Bubalus/Homoioceras/Pelorovis antiquus in North Africa". Archaeozoologia. 4: 39–92.
  13. ↑ Codron, D. (2008). "The evolution of ecological specialization in southern African ungulates: competition or physical environmental turnover". Oikos. 117 (3): 334–353. doi:10.1111/j.2007.0030-1299.16387.x.
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