Syncerus caffer (Sparrman 1779)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Artiodactyla, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 637-722 : 695

Syncerus caffer (Sparrman 1779)

[Bos] caffer Sparrman 1779 , K. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Handl. Stockholm, 40: 79.

Type Locality: "Seecov Rivier" and "Akter Brunties hoogte", now restricted to South Africa, Eastern Cape Prov., Uitenhage district, Sunday River, Algoa Bay.

Vernacular Names: African Buffalo.

Subspecies: :

Subspecies Syncerus caffer subsp. caffer Sparrman 1779

Subspecies Syncerus caffer subsp. aequinoctialis Blyth 1866

Subspecies Syncerus caffer subsp. brachyceros Gray 1837

Subspecies Syncerus caffer subsp. matthewsi Lydekker 1904

Subspecies Syncerus caffer subsp. nanus Boddaert 1785

Distribution: Rain forest and savanna of Angola, Benin, N and E Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, S Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Dem. Rep. Congo, Equatorial Guinea ( Mbini; extinct on Bioko), N Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia (extinct), Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, S Mali, Mozambique, NE Namibia (Caprivi Strip), SW Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, S Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (cd).

Discussion: Ansell (1972:19) compared subspecific systematics of different authors, here modified from Schouteden (1945). The species can be partitioned into the nominate caffer division (including also aequinoctialis) and the nanus division (including also brachyceros ); phylogeography indicates similar haplotypes for nanus and cf. brachyceros , which differ from those of nominate caffer ( Van Hooft et al., 2002) ; matthewsi is probably of polyphyletic origin; cottoni is based on a specimen of nominate caffer showing characters reflecting gene flow between caffer and nanus . Bos pegasus C. H. Smith, 1827 has been identified as an African buffalo, but is probably a sheep ( Blyth, 1871).