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The roan antelope ( Hippotragus equinus) is a large, savanna-dwelling antelope found in West Africa, Southern Africa, and parts of Central Africa and East Africa Africa. Named for its roan colour (a slightly Red, sandy-brown), it has a lighter-toned underbelly and a (mostly) white face and snout, but with a black "mask" around the eyes and on the Nasal bridge of the snout, being somewhat lighter in females. Additionally, a pair of formidable, recurved horns (made of keratin-covered bone) are present on the heads of both males and females, albeit larger on the males, growing up to 100 cm (39 in) long. Males and females have short, erect, Mohawk hairstyle-like manes running down their back and very light, shaggy neckbeards, both of which are more pronounced in males. Both mane and neckbeard are tinted with darker tips, which run the length of the animal's back and belly, ending in a dark-coloured tail. The ears are long, erect, and donkey-like.
The roan is among the world's largest antelopes, after the Taurotragus ( Taurotragus sp.) and the nilgai ( Boselaphus tragocamelus), measuring from the head to the base of the tail, with a -long tail. Males weigh upwards of and females , with a shoulder height of around . ANIMAL BYTES – Roan Antelope. Seaworld.org. Retrieved on 10 October 2013.Burnie D and Wilson DE (Eds.), Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife. DK Adult (2005), Roan antelope videos, photos and facts – Hippotragus equinus . ARKive (28 June 2011). Retrieved on 2013-10-10.
In 1996, an analysis of mitochondrial DNA extracted from a mounted specimen of the bluebuck found that it was outside the clade containing the roan and sable antelopes. The study therefore concluded that the bluebuck is a distinct species, and not merely a subspecies of the roan antelope. The cladogram below shows the position of the roan antelope among its relatives, following the 1996 analysis:
In 1974, palaeoanthropologist Richard Klein studied the fossils of Hippotragus species in South Africa. Most of these were found to represent the bluebuck and the roan antelope. The roan antelope seems to have appeared in the Nelson Bay Cave region following climatic changes in the Holocene.
Characteristic features include a short, erect mane of grayish brown hair extending from the back of the neck along the midline of the back up to the withers, white patches around the eyes and the mouth on the otherwise black face, and long, narrow ears with long tufts. The horns are ringed and arched backwards, which can reach long in males, slightly shorter in females. The long legs are supported by large hooves. (2025). 9781408189962, Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781408189962 The short, smooth coat is brown to amber. The ventral parts are yellow to white, while the neck and the manes are gray to black.
They are somewhat similar in appearance to the sable antelopes and can be confused where their ranges overlap. Sable antelope males are notably darker, being brownish-black rather than dark brown. (2025). 9780761472667, Marshall Cavendish. ISBN 9780761472667
They live in small groups and form harem groups of 5 to 15 animals with one dominant male. Males commonly fight among themselves for dominance of their herd, brandishing their horns while both animals are on their knees.
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