Fossil Bovidae from the Limeworks quarry, Makapansgat, Potgietersrus

Date
1957-04
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research
Abstract
A short history of palaeontological work in the Makapan Valley is given and the setting of the fossil material is briefly described. Many hundreds of bovid cranial and dental fragments have been recovered, in addition to thousands of bones and bone fragments. The post-cranial material is not considered in the present account. The collection includes a number of species not separable from the living kudu, nyala, eland, Cape buffalo, blue duiker, mountain reedbuck, gemsbok, sassaby, brindled gnu and impala. Known extinct species include cf. Alcelaphus robustus, cf. Pelorocerus helmes and Oreotragus major. A new genus of aberrant Alcelaphine is described as Makapania broomi. Other new species are Cephalophus pricei, Redunca darti, Gazella gracilior, and Phenacotragus vanhoepeni. A feature of the assemblage is the tendency for species to be larger than their living counterparts. The whole described fauna of the deposits is discussed and it is considered that a lower Pleistocene (probably Villafranchian) age is most likely.
Description
Main article
Keywords
Citation