Population dynamics of the blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus)

The mission of South African Heritage Resources Agency, Heritage Western Cape and the National Museum Bloemfontein is to manage and promote South Africa’s unique natural and cultural heritage. The recently extinct blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus) (~1800 AD) is an iconic species, historically known only from the Western Cape; it symbolizes the diverse ecosystems of the region, but at the same time it also represents the first historical large mammal extinction on the continent. Our recent studies have shown that it is possible to retrieve complete palaeogenomes from African samples as old as ~9,550 cal years BP. The greatest chance to retrieve even older genomes is from petrous bones. These extremely dense cranial bones have not been identified previously for blue antelopes in a condition that would promise high quality sequencing results. With the recognition of blue antelope cranial specimens that preserve petrosals from the Last Glacial Maximum hyena den at Besaansklip, this has changed and promises high chances for DNA retrieval from a time period where this has not been attempted before for this species. Analysing time sampled genomes promises a much deeper understanding of the extinction and evolutionary history of the blue antelope than possible before.

Western Cape
Northern Cape