{{Short description|Extinct species of buffalo}} {{Speciesbox | fossil_range = Late [[Pleistocene]] - [[Holocene]] | image = Pelorovis-antiquus-Nairobi.JPG | image_caption = Skull of ''Syncerus antiquus'' | extinct = yes | genus = Syncerus | species = antiquus | authority = ([[Georges Louis Duvernoy|Duvernoy]], 1851) | synonyms = *''Bubalus antiquus'' *''Bubalus bainii'' *''Bubalus nilssoni'' *''Homoioceras antiquus'' *''Pelorovis antiquus'' }} '''''Syncerus antiquus''''' is an extinct species of [[Bubalina|buffalo]] from the [[Late Pleistocene]] and [[Holocene]] of [[Africa]].<ref name=Duvernoy1851 /> It was one of the largest species in its family, potentially weighing up to {{convert|2000|kg|lb}}. Due to this fact, it is sometimes known as the '''African giant buffalo''', or as the '''long-horned buffalo''' due to its exceptionally long horns (see Description). The time of its extinction is of debate; ''Syncerus antiquus'' either became extinct at the end of the Late Pleistocene about 12,000 years ago or during the Holocene, some 4,000 years ago.<ref name=Walkers>Ronald M. Nowak: ''Walker's Mammals of the World''. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999 {{ISBN|0-8018-5789-9}}</ref><ref name=Faith>{{cite journal |last1=Faith |first1=J. Tyler |title=Late Pleistocene and Holocene mammal extinctions on continental Africa |journal=Earth-Science Reviews |date=2014 |volume=128 |pages=105–121 |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2013.10.009 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S001282521300175X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==Taxonomy== ''Syncerus antiquus'' was described by [[Georges Louis Duvernoy]] in 1851 from a skull discovered along the [[Bou Sellam River]] near the city of [[Sétif]], [[Algeria]]. It was found at one meter in depth, when excavating the foundations of a new mill, and subsequently sent to Paris.<ref name=Duvernoy1851>{{cite journal |last=Duvernoy |first=Georges Louis |author-link=Georges Louis Duvernoy |date=December 1851 |title=note sur une espèce de buffle fossile [''Bubalis'' (''Arni'') ''antiquus''], découverte en Algérie, caractérisée et décrite par M. Duvernoy |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36264852 |journal=[[Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Sciences|Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des Sciences]] |volume=33 |pages=595–597 |language=fr |access-date=31 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=Berbère>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Camps |first=Gabriel |editor-last=Camps |editor-first=Gabriel |encyclopedia=Encyclopédie Berbère |title= Bubalus antiquus|url=http://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/1875 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718185339/http://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/1875|url-status=live|archive-date=18 July 2020|language=fr |date=1992 |volume= |issue= 11|location=Aix-en-Provence |publisher=Edisud |pages=1642–1647 |doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.1875 |access-date=31 August 2022|doi-access=free }}</ref> Duvernoy believed this species to be closely related to the [[ water buffalo]] ''Bubalus bubalis'' and classified it as ''Bubalus antiquus''. Several other fossils of ''S. antiquus'' were described under the names ''Bubalus bainii'' and ''Bubalus nilssoni''.
In 1949, [[Dorothy Bate]] recognized that these buffaloes were conspecific and not related to ''Bubalus'', so she placed these fossils in a new genus, ''Homoioceras''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bate |first1=Dorothea M.A. |title=A new African fossil long-horned buffalo |journal=Annals and Magazine of Natural History |date=1949 |volume=2 |issue=17 |pages=396–398 |doi=10.1080/00222934908526730}}</ref> However, the type species of ''Homoiceros'' was found to be synonymous with the living [[African buffalo]] ''Syncerus caffer'', invalidating the genus. It was subsequently moved to ''[[Pelorovis]]'' in 1978.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-first=Vincent J. |editor1-last=Maglio |editor2-first=H. B. S. |editor2-last=Cooke |title=Evolution of African Mammals |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |date=1978 |pages=540–572 |doi=10.4159/harvard.9780674431263|isbn=9780674431256 }}</ref><ref name=Martínez2007>{{cite journal |last1=Martínez-Navarro |first1=Bienvenido |last2=Pérez-Claros |first2=Juan Antonio |last3=Palombo |first3=Maria Rita |last4=Rook |first4=Lorenzo |last5=Palmqvist |first5=Paul |date=September 2007 |title=The Olduvai buffalo ''Pelorovis'' and the origin of ''Bos''|url=http://www.cetnotorolidia.org/opencms_wf/opencms/system/modules/es.jcyl.ita.site.torodelidia/elements/galleries/galeria_downloads/The_origin_of_Bos.pdf |journal=Quaternary Research |volume=68 |issue=2 |pages=220–226 |doi=10.1016/j.yqres.2007.06.002 |bibcode=2007QuRes..68..220M |s2cid=55104027 |access-date=8 January 2020}}</ref> However, a link with the living African buffalo has been noted based on morphological and systematic grounds. Since 1994, it has been suggested that ''P. antiquus'' be moved into ''[[Syncerus]].''<ref name=Klein>{{Cite journal|last=Klein|first=Richard G.|date=November 1994|title=The Long-Horned African Buffalo (Pelorovis antiquus) is an Extinct Species|journal=Journal of Archaeological Science|language=en|volume=21|issue=6|pages=725–733|doi=10.1006/jasc.1994.1072|doi-access=free}}</ref> This proposal has since gained widespread acceptance.<ref name="Faith" />
==Description== [[File:Pelorovis antiquus.jpg|thumb|Skull of ''Syncerus antiquus'']] ''Syncerus antiquus'' holds the distinction of being the largest bovid described from Africa.<ref name=Faith /> According to [[Auguste Pomel]], who was able to examine numerous fossils in Algeria, ''S. antiquus'' may have reached {{convert|3|m|ft}} in length from muzzle to the end of the tail, {{convert|1.85|m|ft}} in height at the [[withers]], and {{convert|1.7|m|ft}} in height at the [[hindquarters]].<ref name=Berbère/><ref>{{cite book |last=Pomel |first=Auguste |author-link1=Auguste Pomel |date=1893 |title=''Bubalus antiquus'' |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13747484 |series=Carte de Géologie de l’Algérie - Paléontologie Monographies de Vertébrés |language=fr |location=Algiers |publisher=imprimerie P. Fontana |pages=1-94, pl.1-10 |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.13867}}</ref> The distance between the tips of its horns was as large as {{cvt|2.4|m}}.<ref name=Berbère/> It probably weighed about {{convert|1200|kg|lb}} on average, though the largest males could have potentially attained weights of up to {{convert|2000|kg|lb}}.<ref>{{cite book | isbn = 9780691156828 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tWiYDwAAQBAJ | title = The Princeton Field Guide to Prehistoric Mammals | publisher = Princeton University Press | date = 2016 | access-date = 31 August 2022 | pages = 184 | author = [[Donald Prothero|Donald R. Prothero]] }}</ref>
One of the defining features of ''Syncerus antiquus'' are its massive horns. The largest horn cores can reach sizes of as much as {{convert|3|m|ft}} from tip to tip. The horns resembled those of the [[wild water buffalo]] (''Bubalus arnee'') in shape.<ref name=Berbère/>
==Distribution== This buffalo had the broadest geographic distribution of any recently extinct species of African bovid, being widespread throughout eastern, southern and northern Africa.<ref name=Faith /> Material has been dated to the Late Pleistocene, between 107 and 13 ka.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Klein |first1=R.G. |title=Environmental and ecological implications of large mammals from Upper Pleistocene and Holocene sites in southern Africa |journal=Ann. S. Afr. Mus. |date=1980 |volume=81 |pages=223–283 |doi=10.1016/0033-5894(91)90019-2|s2cid=59359208 }}</ref>
However, rock art from [[North Africa]] seemingly depicting ''Syncerus antiquus'' suggests that this species survived into the [[Holocene]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gautier |first1=A. |last2=Muzzolini |first2=A. |title=The life and times of the giant buffalo alias Bubalus/Homoioceras/Pelorovis antiquus in North Africa |journal=Archaeozoologia |date=1991 |volume=4 |pages=39–92}}</ref> Possible fossils of ''S. antiquus'' have also been found in Holocene deposits.
==Paleoecology== [[File:Pelorovis.JPG|left|thumb|Restoration of ''Syncerus antiquus'' (far left)]] Due to possessing such vast horns, it seems likely that ''Syncerus antiquus'' was limited to wide-open areas with few trees.<ref name=Klein /> Isotopic and mesowear evidence indicate that it was a grazer, and its massive body size suggests that it consumed large quantities of low-quality forage.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Codron |first1=D. |title=The evolution of ecological specialization in southern African ungulates: competition or physical environmental turnover |journal=Oikos |date=2008 |volume=117 |issue=3 |pages=334–353 |doi=10.1111/j.2007.0030-1299.16387.x}}</ref>
Judging from the rock art, it seems pairs of the male animals (testes are illustrated) would fight by ramming each other's horns with their heads lowered – this is illustrated numerous times. Rock art also suggests that it may have lived in large herds.<ref name=Berbère/>
==Recent survival and extinction== [[File:Pelorovis antiquus rock art.jpg|thumb|left|[[Rock art]] of "great bubaline" from northern Africa, thought to depict ''S. antiquus'']]
A large amount of [[Rock art#North Africa|rock art]] has been found illustrating the species ''Syncerus antiquus'' in the [[Maghreb]], the [[Atlas Mountains|Atlas]], the [[Sahara]] and near to the [[Atlantic]] and [[Mediterranean]] coasts of North Africa. The art is found in a wide band stretching from [[Tunisia]] through Algeria to [[Morocco]]. This art not only indicates that the buffalo may have survived until recent times, it also indicates these animals were being actively hunted with spears, possibly by the first of the [[Berber people]]s.<ref name=Berbère/>
Its extinction has been variously attributed to human predation, climatic change, or some combination of the two.<ref name=Klein />
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q107969812}} [[Category:Syncerus]] [[Category:Prehistoric bovids]] [[Category:Pleistocene Artiodactyla]] [[Category:Pleistocene mammals of Africa]] [[Category:Holocene extinctions]] [[Category:Extinct mammals of Africa]]