Pelorovis

Pelorovis is an extinct genus of African wild bovines which existed during the Pleistocene epoch. Originally believed to be a giant member of Caprinae, related to modern sheep, it is now known to be a relative of cattle and buffalos. The best known and type species is Pelorovis oldowayensis, from the Early Pleistocene of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, though two others, P. turkanensis and P. howelli, are currently recognised. A fourth, P. praeafricanus, may exist, or it may represent the same species as P. oldowayensis. "Pelorovis" antiquus, from the Late Pleistocene-Holocene, and "P." kaisensis, have since been moved into Syncerus, the same genus as living African buffalo.

Pelorovis

Haplochromis · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
BoviniPBDB
Diet
grazer, browserPBDB, for Bovidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Bovidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Artiodactyla

Time the record covers

At least 3.5 million years on record.

The record covers at least 3.6 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 5.333 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 0 of 109 occurrencesPliocene — about 8 of 109 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 99 of 109 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 2 of 109 occurrences5.4–5.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.3–5.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences5.1–4.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.9–4.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.7–4.5 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.5–4.3 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.3–4.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.1–3.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.9–3.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.7–3.5 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences3.5–3.3 Mya — about 1 occurrence3.3–3.1 Mya — about 1 occurrence3.1–2.9 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.9–2.7 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.7–2.5 Mya — about 3 occurrences2.5–2.3 Mya — about 8 occurrences2.3–2.1 Mya — about 8 occurrences2.1–1.9 Mya — about 8 occurrences1.9–1.8 Mya — about 9 occurrences1.8–1.6 Mya — about 10 occurrences1.6–1.4 Mya — about 10 occurrences1.4–1.2 Mya — about 10 occurrences1.2–972 ka Mya — about 10 occurrences972 ka–778 ka Mya — about 10 occurrences778 ka–583 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences583 ka–389 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences389 ka–194 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences194 ka–0 Mya — about 9 occurrences3.6 Mya11.7 ka5.8 Mya0 Mya

109 occurrences of Pelorovis on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

109 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

13 formations

Koobi Fora — 4.29°N, 36.23°EKoobi Fora — 4.26°N, 36.28°EKoobi Fora — 4.24°N, 36.28°EKoobi Fora — 3.90°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 3.98°N, 36.32°EKoobi Fora — 3.86°N, 36.26°EKoobi Fora — 4.07°N, 36.37°EKoobi Fora — 3.87°N, 36.37°EKoobi Fora — 4.22°N, 36.43°EKoobi Fora — 3.95°N, 36.42°ENachukui — 4.25°N, 35.79°ENachukui — 4.15°N, 35.74°ENachukui — 4.23°N, 35.81°ENachukui — 4.05°N, 35.73°ENachukui — 4.11°N, 35.73°EShungura — 5.08°N, 36.02°EShungura — 5.09°N, 36.06°EHumbu — 2.33°S, 35.97°EOlduvai — 2.99°S, 35.33°EWehaietu — 10.90°N, 40.48°EWehaietu — 10.63°N, 40.54°E'Ubeidiya — 32.68°N, 35.57°EVarswater — 32.97°S, 18.15°EVarswater — 33.67°S, 18.43°E2 — 11.06°N, 42.28°EDanakil — 14.84°N, 39.87°EHadar — 11.13°N, 40.58°ERietputs — 28.53°S, 24.47°EOlorgesailie — 1.57°S, 36.44°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Pelorovis has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 25 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Pelorovis and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Pelorovis and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

630 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 100 sites for Pelorovis, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

48 references

Each of the 109 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 36 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Pelorovis

Credit
Haplochromis
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Structured light scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Pelorovis antiquus · DNMNH:AC:Pelorovis-Genesis-II

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itBovini through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Reck 1928