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hartebeest

 
Dictionary: har·te·beest   (här'tə-bēst', härt'bēst') pronunciation
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n., pl., -beests, or hartebeest.
Any of various large African antelopes of the genus Alcelaphus, characterized by a reddish-brown coat and ringed, outward-curving horns.

[Obsolete Afrikaans, from Middle Dutch, variant of hertebeest : hert, deer + beest, beast (from Old French beste; see beast).]


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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: hartebeest
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Coke's hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus cokii).
(click to enlarge)
Coke's hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus cokii). (credit: Leonard Lee Rue III)
Either of two species of swift, slender antelope (genus Alcelaphus) found in herds on open plains and scrublands of sub-Saharan Africa. They often mingle with herds of other antelope or zebras. Hartebeests stand about 4 ft (1.2 m) tall at the shoulder, and the back slopes downward from heavy forequarters to narrow hindquarters. The long face is accentuated, in both sexes, by ringed, lyre-shaped horns united at the base. The red hartebeest is pale reddish brown with a lighter rump. Two subspecies (Swayne's hartebeest and the tora) are listed as endangered.

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Columbia Encyclopedia: hartebeest
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hartebeest (här'tĭbēst'), large African antelope of the genus Alcelaphus. The hartebeest resembles a horse with horns. It has a very long face and a small hump between the shoulders; its coat is fawn or reddish and its ringed horns curve up and inward in a U shape. Most kinds of hartebeest stand about 4 ft (120 cm) at the shoulder and weigh about 400 lb (180 kg). Swift animals of the plains, hartebeests usually live in herds of around a dozen animals and are often found associated with other herd animals, such as zebras, gnus, and gazelles. The common hartebeest (A. buselaphus) has many races, distributed through most of Africa. Although the races are given different common names (e.g., the kongoni, or Coke's hartebeest, of E Africa), they are quite similar in appearance and behavior and interbreed readily. The N African bulbul and the S African red hartebeest are extinct races of the common hartebeest. The former was known to the Romans and was very numerous until the 19th cent. Swayne's hartebeest, a small Ethiopian race, is in danger of extinction. A second species, Lichtenstein's hartebeest (A. lichtensteini), is found in SE Africa. An antelope related to the hartebeests, Damaliscus hunteri, is known as Hunter's hartebeest but is more properly called a damalisk. The hartebeest is classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Artiodactyla, family Bovidae.

Veterinary Dictionary: hartebeest
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Medium-sized antelope with long legs and lyre-shaped horns. Called also Alcelaphus caama, A. buselaphus.

Wikipedia: Hartebeest
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Hartebeest

Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Alcelaphinae
Genus: Alcelaphus
Species: A. buselaphus
Binomial name
Alcelaphus buselaphus
Pallas, 1766
Subspecies

A. b. buselaphus
A. b. cokii
A. b. lelwel
A. b. major
A. b. swaynei
A. b. tora
Synonyms

Bubalis buselaphus (Lichtenstein, 1814)

The hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus) is a grassland antelope found in West Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa. It is one of the three species classified in the genus Alcelaphus.[2]

Hartebeest stand almost 1.5 m (5 ft) at the shoulder and weigh anywhere from 120--200 kg (265--440 lb). Male hartebeest are a dark brown colour while females are yellow brown. Both sexes have horns which can reach lengths up to 70 cm (27 in). Hartebeest live in grassland and open forest where they eat grass. They are diurnal and spend the morning and late afternoon eating. Herds contain five to twenty individuals but can occasionally contain up to 350.

Contents

Subspecies

Coke's Hartebeest, Serengeti, Tanzania

Six subspecies have been described,[2] previously seven [3] when it still included the Red Hartebeest, which is now considered a distinct species after phylogeographic studies.[2]

Two subspecies cross-breeds are recognized by some sectors of the commercial hunting fraternity.

  • Kenya Highland Hartebeest, Alcelaphus buselaphus lelwel x cokii
  • Neumann Hartebeest, Alcelaphus buselaphus lelwel x swaynei. (Ethiopia)

Other species

Two other species less commonly known as 'hartebeest' are classed in the Damaliscus genus.

  • Korrigum (Senegal Hartebeest), Damaliscus lunatus korrigum
  • Tiang (Tiang Hartebeest), Damaliscus lunatus tiang

Etymology

The word hartebeest comes from Afrikaans and was originally called hertebeest. The name was given by the Boers who thought it resembled deer (hert in Dutch, the Dutch beest means 'beast' in English).[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group (2008). Alcelaphus buselaphus. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2008. Retrieved on 11 February 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d e Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn M. (editors). 2005. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed), Johns Hopkins University Press, 2,142 pp. Available online
  3. ^ Antelope Specialist Group (1996). Alcelaphus buselaphus. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
  4. ^ Llewellyn, E.C. (1936) The Influence of Low Dutch on the English Vocabulary. Chapter XIV The Influence of South African Dutch or Afrikaans on the English Vocabulary. Oxford University Press, London. Available online

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 
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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
Veterinary Dictionary. Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hartebeest".  Read more