Blue wildebeest

Blue wildebeest
Temporal range: 1–0 Ma
Middle Pleistocene – present
C. t. albojubatus
In the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Alcelaphinae
Genus: Connochaetes
Species:
C. taurinus
Binomial name
Connochaetes taurinus
(Burchell, 1823)
Subspecies

C. t. albojubatus (Thomas, 1912)
C. t. cooksoni (Blaine, 1914)
C. t. johnstoni (Sclater, 1896)
C. t. mearnsi (Heller, 1913)
C. t. taurinus (Burchell, 1823)

Distribution of the subspecies:
  C. t. taurinus
  C. t. cooksoni
  C. t. johnstoni
  C. t. albojubatus
  C. t. mearnsi

The blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), also called the common wildebeest, white-bearded wildebeest, white-bearded gnu or brindled gnu, is a large antelope and one of the two species of wildebeest.

The blue wildebeest is known to have five subspecies. Young blue wildebeest are born tawny brown, and begin to have their adult coloration at the age of 2 months.

Both sexes have a pair of large curved horns. The blue wildebeest is a herbivore, feeding mainly on short grasses.

References

  1. IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group (2016). "Connochaetes taurinus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T5229A163322525. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T5229A163322525.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.