The long-horned African buffalo (pelorovis antiquus) is an extinct species

Abstract

The African long-horned buffalo, Pelorovis antiquus, was once widespread in the savannas and grasslands of southern, eastern, and northern Africa. It apparently disappeared from southern and eastern Africa about 12,000 years ago and from northern Africa about 4000 years ago. Its extinction has been variously attributed to human predation, climatic change, or some combination of the two. Recently, Peters et al. (Late Quaternary extinction of ungulates in Sub-Saharan Africa: a reductionist's approach, Journal of Archaeological Science21, 17-28, 1994) argued that its demise has been exaggerated and that its postcranial anatomy indicates it was simply a long-horned morph of the extant African buffalo, Syncerus caffer. Both cranial and postcranial similarities to Syncerus can be used to suggest that P. antiquus should be removed from Pelorovis and reassigned to Syncerus, as Syncerus antiquus. However, its status as a distinct (and now extinct) buffalo species is demonstrated by its singular horns, by some dental differences from S. caffer, and above all, by its geographic overlap with S. caffer through much of the middle and late Quaternary, with no evidence for intermediate forms. © 1994 Academic Press Limited.