Lesser Kudu

Lesser Kudu
	Diorama from the Natural History Museum, Bern
	Southern Lesser Kudu at the San Diego Zoo
Conservation status
	; Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Bovidae
Subfamily:	Bovinae
Genus:	Ammelaphus
Species:	A. imberbis
Binomial name
	Ammelaphus imberbis; (Blyth, 1869)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

The lesser kudu (Ammelaphus imberbis formerly Tragelaphus imberbis) is a forest antelope found in East Africa. The Lesser Kudu at one time was thought to be a smaller version of the Greater Kudu, but now is considered to be a more primitive species.

Lesser kudu range between 90 to 110 cm (35 to 43 in) tall at the shoulder. Females weigh between 50 to 70 kg (110 to 150 lb) and the males between 60 to 90 kg (130 to 200 lb) maximum. Lesser kudu males are grey-brown while females are chestnut with a lighter coat on their underside. Both have about ten white stripes on their backs and two white tufts on the underside of their necks. Males have a small mane and horns of about 70 cm (28 in) with one twist.

Lesser kudu live in dry thorn bush and forest and eat mainly leaves. Lesser kudu are nocturnal and matinine crepuscular. They live in groups of two to five ranging up to twenty-four.

Lesser kudu can jump distances more than 9 m (30 ft) and 2.5 m (8.2 ft) high. They can also reach running speeds of around 100 km/h (62 mph). Unlike its cousin the greater kudu, which is one of the slowest antelopes, the lesser kudu is one of fastest.

The population is in decrease. It is currently estimated at 118,000 individuals^[2], in East Africa.

Reports of Lesser Kudu from the Arabian Peninsula were based on animals that were imported for trophy hunting in the 1960's.

Lesser Kudu taxonomy and evolution

The Lesser Kudu is the most primitive of all the Spiral-Horned Antelopes. It's evolutionary line diverged sometime in the late Miocene, possibly as much as 10 million years ago. There is some evidence of an early hybridization between the proto-Lesser Kudu and the proto-Nyala, but these lines have been separate for the majority of the evolutionary history.

The whole family tree for Tragelaphus (senso lato) has undergone a revision, with the Lesser Kudu being the most basal member of the tribe. It has long been established that the two species of Eland (oryx and derbiensis) are considered to be a separate genus (Taurotragus). With this genus being solid, then other, earlier branching, members of the tribe by necessity needed their genus level to be altered. This included the Lesser Kudu, the Nyala, and the Greater Kudu.

Using the definition of a genus as being an evolutionary line that has remained separate since the end of the Miocene (5.8 million years ago), the Lesser Kudu qualifies as its own genus. In 1912, the genus Ammelaphus was established for just the Lesser Kudu by Edmund Heller. As a genus, Ammelaphus had fallen out of favor, but was recently raised to a genus level by Peter Grubb and Colin Groves (2011). The Nyala, being the second branch of the family tree, has also been raised to its own genus; Nyala. Likewise, the Greater Kudu is now placed in the genus of Strepsiceros.

Grubb and Groves further state that Ammelaphus has two recognizable species, the northern (imberbis) and southern (australis). Prior to their level as a full species, both imberbis and australis were recognized as valid subspecies. Further genetic investigation will be needed to determine whether or not this split reflects reality.

All Lesser Kudu in zoos (at least those in North American zoos) are Ammelaphus australis. This is a revision of both the genus and species name from what is listed at all institutions holding this species.