The impala is the sole member of the genus Aepyceros. It was first described by German zoologist Martin Hinrich Carl Lichtenstein in 1812. Two subspecies are recognised—the common impala, and the larger and darker black-faced impala. Less than 1,000 individuals remain in the wild as of 2008.
About Impala in brief
The impala is the sole member of the genus Aepyceros and belongs to the family Bovidae. It was first described by German zoologist Martin Hinrich Carl Lichtenstein in 1812. Two subspecies are recognised—the common impala, and the larger and darker black-faced impala. The impala reaches 70–92 centimetres at the shoulder and weighs 40–76 kg. The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies the impala as a species of least concern. Less than 1,000 individuals remain in the wild as of 2008. It has been reintroduced in Gabon and southern Africa. Its gregarious nature, positive trend in diet, and symbiotic relationship with tick-feeding oxpeckers could have played a role in preventing major changes in morphology and behaviour in the modern form. It is a medium-sized, slender antelope, similar to the kobobelope, but otherwise very similar in all aspects to the latter. Its Afrikaans name, rooibok’red buck’, is also sometimes used in English. In 1984, palaeontologist Elisabeth Vrba opined that theimpala is a sister taxon to the alcelaphines, given its resemblance to the hartebeest. A 1999 phylogenetic study by Alexandre Hassanin and colleagues, based on mitochondrial and nuclear analyses, showed that the Impala forms a clade with the suni. This clade is sister to another formed by the bay duiker and the klipspringer.
The following cladogram is based on the 1999 study: Sheep Bontebok Sable antelope KlipsPRinger Bay duiker Impala Suni Grant’s gazelle Mountain reedbuck. The oldest fossil from the Pliocene of Ethiopia suggests its ancient ancestors were slightly smaller than themodern form, otherwise otherwise similar. This implies that the impala has efficiently adapted to its environment since prehistoric times since its environment to its prehistoric times. The male’s slender, lyre-shaped horns are 45–92 centimetres long and the female’s are 45 cm long. An annual, three-week-long rut takes place toward the end of the wet season, typically in May. Gestation lasts six to seven months, following which a single calf is born and immediately concealed in cover. Young males are suckled for four to six months; young males—forced out of the all-female groups—join bachelor herds, while females may stay back. The male is known for two characteristic leaps that constitute an anti-predator strategy. It inhabits places close to water, and is found in woodlands and sometimes on the interface between woodlands, savannahs, and water. While the black- faced impala is confined to southwestern Angola and Kaokoland in northwestern Namibia, the common Impala is widespread across its range.
You want to know more about Impala?
This page is based on the article Impala published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 06, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
