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Evolutionary Pattern and Process in the Sister-Group Alcelaphini-Aepycerotini (Mammalia: Bovidae)

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Living Fossils

Part of the book series: Casebooks in Earth Sciences

Abstract

Sisters of a sister-group are taxa that share a more recent common ancestry with each other than either does with any other taxon. One of the most interesting aspects of evolution concerns the very different histories in terms of morphological diversification that such sistertaxa often have. Elsewhere I have suggested that the causes of different kinds of evolution may be especially well studied in low-ranking sister-groups that include a fossil record plus extant survivors, and that are still in a phase of evolutionary radiation (Vrba 1980a). The bovid tribes Alcelaphini (blesbuck—hartebeest—wilde—beest group) and Aepycerotini (impalas) provide such a case.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Transvaal Museum, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa

    Elisabeth S. Vrba

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  1. Elisabeth S. Vrba
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Invertebrates, The American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, 10024, New York, NY, USA

    Niles Eldredge

  2. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University, 21218, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Steven M. Stanley

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Vrba, E.S. (1984). Evolutionary Pattern and Process in the Sister-Group Alcelaphini-Aepycerotini (Mammalia: Bovidae). In: Eldredge, N., Stanley, S.M. (eds) Living Fossils. Casebooks in Earth Sciences. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8271-3_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8271-3_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-8273-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-8271-3

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