Aranyam at 03:04, 22 March 2026

2026-03-22T03:04:34Z

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{{Short description|Tribe of mammals}}
{{Automatic Taxobox
| name = Boselaphini
| image = Nilgaihead.jpg
| image_caption = [[Nilgai]]
| image2 = ChousinghaHead.jpg
| image2_caption = [[Four-horned antelope]]
| taxon = Boselaphini
| authority = [[Theodor Christian Bernhard Knottnerus-Meyer|Knottnerus-Meyer]], 1907
| subdivision_ranks = [[Genus|Genera]]
| subdivision =
*''[[Tetracerus]]''
*''[[Boselaphus]]''
and see [[#Genera|text]].
}}

'''Boselaphini''' is a [[tribe (biology)|tribe]] of [[Bovinae|bovines]]. It contains only two [[extant taxon|extant]] [[genus|genera]], each with a single extant [[species]].

==Evolution==
The Boselaphini or four-horned [[antelope]] tribe are the last survivors of a form very similar to that of the ancestors of the broader [[subfamily]]. The oldest fossil members of the tribe, such as ''[[Eotragus]]'', date to the [[Miocene]] about 18 to 20 million years ago. Such fossils possessed horns very similar to those of males belonging to the two living species, although in some cases, they were also present in females.<ref name=Kostopoulos2005>{{cite journal | author = Kostopoulos, D.S. | year = 2005 | title = The Bovidae (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) from the late Miocene of Akkaşdaği, Turkey | journal = Geodiversitas | volume = 27 | issue = 4 | url = http://www.mnhn.fr/museum/front/medias/publication/6877_g05n4a11.pdf | pages = 747–791 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061202104133/http://www.mnhn.fr/museum/front/medias/publication/6877_g05n4a11.pdf | archive-date = 2006-12-02 }}</ref> Enamel [[Δ13C|δ<sup>13</sup>C]] values of boselaphins and [[Bovini|bovins]] from the [[Late Miocene]] of [[Pakistan]] indicates that the former preferred more closed habitats than the latter, which favoured foraging in more open environments.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bibi |first=Faysal |date=27 September 2007 |title=Dietary niche partitioning among fossil bovids in late Miocene C3 habitats: Consilience of functional morphology and stable isotope analysis |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018207003483?casa_token=Q3bouaoFNbIAAAAA:1CNVQDiVKUfclfIW8rdvFU_opARdNw6AMF-a-UMirPTvso2uAewoDiaXSWCxx1qvore0xeq6ZpNe |journal=[[Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology]] |language=en |volume=253 |issue=3-4 |pages=529–538 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.06.014 |access-date=17 September 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== Description ==
Both extant species have relatively primitive anatomical and behavioural characteristics and the females have no horns. They are native to the rapidly diminishing forests of [[India]], and tend to avoid open plains. The [[nilgai]] has been introduced into southern [[Texas]] where a population of a little under 15,000 animals provides some long-term insurance for its survival.{{citation needed|date=March 2011}}

==Genera==
===Extant species===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Image !! Genus !! Species
|-
|[[File:Nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) male.jpg|175px]] || ''[[Boselaphus]]'' {{small|Blainville, 1816}} ||
*[[nilgai]] (''Boselaphus tragocamelus'')
|-
|[[File:Bondla-12.jpg|175px]] || ''[[Tetracerus]]'' {{small|Leach, 1825}} ||
*[[ four-horned antelope]] (''Tetracerus quadricornis'')
|-
|}

===Phylogeny===
The following are the genera classified under the tribe. Genera marked with † are extinct.<ref>{{cite web | author = Haaramo, M. | title = Mikko's Phylogency Archive (Boselaphini) | url = http://www.helsinki.fi/~mhaaramo/metazoa/deuterostoma/chordata/synapsida/eutheria/artiodactyla/bovioidea/boselaphini.html | access-date = 25 March 2011 }}</ref>

'''Tribe Boselaphini'''
* ''[[Boselaphus]]''
**''[[Boselaphus tragocamelus]]'' - [[Nilgai]] or blue bull (not to be confused with the extinct [[bluebuck]] ''Hippotragus leucophaeus'')
* †''[[Elachistoceras]]''
* †''[[Duboisia (antelope)|Duboisia]]''
* †''[[Eotragus]]''
* †''[[Neotragocerus]]''
* †''[[Pachyportax]]''
* †''[[Perimia]]''
* †''[[Phronetragus]]''
* †''[[Pliodorcas]]''
* †''[[Plioportax]]''
* †''[[Proboselaphus]]''
* †''[[Ruticeros]]''
* †''[[Samokeros]]''
* †''[[Selenoportax]]''
* †''[[Sivaportax]]''
* †''[[Sivoreas]]''
* †''[[Strogulognathus]]''
* ''[[Tetracerus]]''
** ''[[Tetracerus quadricornis]]'' - [[Four-horned antelope]]<ref>{{cite journal | author = Leslie, D.M. & Sharma K. | year = 2009 | title = ''Tetracerus quadricornis'' (Artiodactyla: Bovidae) | journal = Mammalian Species | issue = 843 | pages = 1–11 | doi = 10.1644/843.1| doi-access = free }}</ref>
* †''[[Tragoreas]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Artiodactyla|R.4}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q722385}}

[[Category:Boselaphini| ]]
[[Category:Antelopes]]
[[Category:Mammals of India]]
[[Category:Mammal tribes]]

{{eventoedungulate-stub}}

Boselaphini - Revision history

Aranyam at 03:04, 22 March 2026