Damaliscus superstes, Cotterill, 2003

Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2011, Bovidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 2 Hoofed Mammals, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 444-779 : 658

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6512484

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6584297

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03F50713-991C-FFA7-03C0-F2A4F8FDF90E

treatment provided by

Conny

scientific name

Damaliscus superstes
status

 

155. View Plate 42: Bovidae

Bangweulu Tsessebe

Damaliscus superstes View in CoL

French: Sassaby du Bangweulu / German: Bangweulu-Sassaby / Spanish: Topi del Bangweulu

Taxonomy. Damaliscus superstes Cotterill, 2003 View in CoL ,

Muku Muku Flats, 12° 21' S, 30° E. Southwest Bangweulu Flats GoogleMaps .

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. Bangweulu district, NE Zambia and the bordering region of Katanga in SE DR Congo. The range is bounded to the N by the Chambeshi and Luapula rivers, and to the S by the Muchinga Escarpment. View Figure

Descriptive notes. There are no specific measurements available. Larger than its sister species, the Western Tsessebe ( D. lunatus ), and the horns are thicker and wider spread, with a broader pedicle. The horns grow symmetrically outward, with the tips curving inward, to form a sphere. The horns are slightly sexually dimorphic; horn length is 35.1-40 cm (males) and 30.4-39. 5 cm (females). Tip-to-tip distance is 22-23. 4 cm (males) and 20-33. 5 cm (females); horn span is 37.8-44. 6 cm (males) and 34.2-43 cm (females). Greatest skull length is 39-43. 5 cm in both sexes, and maxillary tooth row is 83:9-105-3 mm (both sexes). The pelage color is chocolate brown, darker than the Western Tsessebe; the face blaze is black, the shoulder and haunch patches mostly dark blackish-gray. The ears are particularly dark.

Habitat. Like other large species of Damaliscus , the Bangweulu Tsessebe lives in edaphic grasslands.

Food and Feeding. There is no specific information available for this species, but presumably it is overwhelmingly a grass-feeder like other tsessebe.

Breeding. There is no specific information available for this species, but it is mostlikely a seasonal breeder.

Activity patterns. There islittle specific information available for this species, but it is diurnal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no specific information available forthis species, but it is most likely similar to Western Tsessebe in all of these aspects.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List (as D. lunatus superstes ). The Bangweulu Tsessebe appears to have become extinct in Katanga, and the range in Zambia has shrunk, but there are still good populations on the southern half of the Bangweulu Flats.

Bibliography. Cotterill (2003).

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Artiodactyla

Family

Bovidae

Genus

Damaliscus

Loc

Damaliscus superstes

Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier 2011
2011
Loc

Damaliscus superstes

Cotterill 2003
2003
GBIF Dataset (for parent article) Darwin Core Archive (for parent article) View in SIBiLS Plain XML RDF