Neumann Hartebeest | Online Record Book Preview

Alcelaphus lelwel x swaynei

Named for English elephant hunter A. H. Neumann, who took the first specimens near the northeast corner of Lake Turkana (Rudolf).

DESCRIPTION We follow Yalden et al. in treating this animal as a hybrid between the lelwel hartebeest and Swayne hartebeest. As such, it exhibits intermediate characteristics. The face is longer and the frontal pedicel higher than in the Swayne. The general color is an even golden brown, paler on the underparts. The chin is blackish and the tuft of the tail is black. The horns (both sexes) are thicker than those of the Swayne, and grow up from the pedicel in a wide V-shape (not the widespread bracket-shape of the Swayne, or the narrow "V" of the lelwel), then turn backward and a little inward.

DISTRIBUTION Ethiopia, in a small area east of the Omo River and north of Lake Turkana (Rudolf), extending eastward north of Lake Chew Bahir (Stefanie) to near Lake Chamo.

TAXONOMIC NOTES Includes rothschildi (north of Lake Chew Bahir). At various times the Neumann hartebeest has been regarded as a full species, a subspecies of Coke hartebeest, or a subspecies of Swayne hartebeest. We follow Yalden, et al. in regarding it as a lelwel x swaynei hybrid.