Giant Wildebeest
Megalotragus priscus
📈🐃
Chordata
Mammalia
Artiodactyla
Pecora
Bovidae
Megalotragus
Megalotragus priscus
The Giant Wildebeest — Megalotragus priscus was a massive, now-extinct antelope of the African Pleistocene, closely related to modern wildebeests. Towering and heavily built, it grazed the vast grasslands of eastern and southern Africa, where it coexisted with early humans and other Ice Age megafauna.
Description
Giant Wildebeest (Megalotragus priscus) — This impressive antelope species was larger and more robust than any living wildebeest. Adults stood 1.5–1.8 meters at the shoulder, measured around 2.5–3 meters in body length, and weighed 500–700 kg. It was characterized by a massive, bony frontal shield or boss (similar to a buffalo’s) on its skull, thick curved horns, and long limbs built for open-terrain running. Morphologically, it combined traits of both wildebeests (Connochaetes) and hartebeests (Alcelaphus), suggesting it was a transitional or specialized grazer adapted to dry savanna grasslands.
Quick Facts
Max Mass
Shoulder Height
Standing Height
Length
Diet
Trophic Level
200
1.6
2.4
2.8
kg
m
m
m
Mixed Feeder
Herbivores – Grazers
Hunt History
Megalotragus priscus was likely hunted by Late Pleistocene humans, including Homo sapiens and possibly Homo naledi or Homo erectus in earlier periods. Its large size made it an attractive but challenging prey, likely taken down with coordinated ambushes, pit traps, and projectile weapons such as spears and atlatls. Archaeological evidence shows butchery marks on bones, suggesting it was regularly exploited for meat and hides. As grasslands contracted at the end of the Ice Age, human hunting and climate shifts likely contributed to its extinction.
Earliest Archaeological Evidence of Human Predation:
Klasies River Mouth, South Africa (ca. 100,000 years ago) — Fossil remains of Megalotragus associated with Middle Stone Age tools and cut marks.
Nelson Bay Cave, South Africa (ca. 40,000 years ago) — Butchered bones from human occupation layers.
Elandsfontein (Saldanha Bay), South Africa (ca. 300,000 years ago) — Early evidence of large bovid processing, possibly including M. priscus.
Time & Range
Extinction Status
Globally Extinct
Extinction Date
Temporal Range
Region
12000
BP
Late Pleistocene
Africa
Wiki Link
Fat Analysis
Fatness Profile:
Medium
Fat %
6
Est. Renderable Fat
12
kg
Targeted Organs
Hump/backfat, marrow, mesenteric fat
Adipose Depots
Hump/backfat, mesenteric, perirenal; marrow
Preferred Cuts
Hump/backfat & marrow
Hunt Difficulty (x/5)
4