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Taxonomic status and paleoecology of Rusingoryx atopocranion (Mammalia, Artiodactyla), an extinct Pleistocene bovid from Rusinga Island, Kenya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

J. Tyler Faith ,
Jonah N. Choiniere ,
Christian A. Tryon ,
Daniel J. Peppe  and
David L. Fox
J. Tyler Faith*
Affiliation:
Hominid Paleobiology Doctoral Program, CASHP, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, 2110 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20052, USA
Jonah N. Choiniere
Affiliation:
Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA
Christian A. Tryon
Affiliation:
Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, 25 Waverly Place, New York, NY 10012, USA
Daniel J. Peppe
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97354, Waco, TX 76798, USA
David L. Fox
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Minnesota, 210 Pillsbury Drive SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
*
⁎Corresponding author. Fax: + 1 202 994 6097.
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Abstract

Rusingoryx atopocranion is a poorly known extinct alcelaphine bovid, documented in Pleistocene deposits associated with Middle Stone Age artifacts on Rusinga Island, Kenya. Following its initial description, Rusingoryx was subsumed into Megalotragus, which includes the extinct giant wildebeests, on the basis of its cranial architecture. Renewed investigations of the Pleistocene deposits on Rusinga Island recovered a large sample of Rusingoryx specimens that provide new taxonomic and paleoecological insight. This study (1) reviews the morphological and phylogenetic evidence concerning the taxonomic status of Rusingoryx and (2) evaluates its paleoecology and dietary habits. The morphology and phylogenetic data indicate that Rusingoryx is distinct from Megalotragus; they likely shared a common ancestor in the late Pliocene. Ecomorphology and mesowear analysis point to a specialized grazing adaptation, and its association with arid-adapted ungulates suggests a preference for arid grasslands. The confirmation of Rusingoryx as a valid taxonomic entity, together with the presence of other extinct taxa (including Megalotragus) on Rusinga Island, suggests an increasingly complex pattern of ungulate biogeography and extinctions in the late Quaternary of East Africa. Rusingoryx appears to have been part of an arid-adapted faunal community that potentially persisted in East Africa until the onset of the Holocene.

Keywords

MegalotragusPhylogenetic systematicsEcomorphologyMesowearQuaternary extinctionsLake Victoria
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 75 , Issue 3 , May 2011 , pp. 697 - 707
Copyright
University of Washington

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