Tag: Cetartiodactyla

Scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah)

Acrylic & oil paint on canvas, 2020

40 x 30 cm

Mountain anoa (Bubalus quarlesi)

Pencil, 2020

29,5 x 21 cm

Southern blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus)

Pencil, 2021

30 x 24 cm

Zebra duiker (Cephalophus zebra)

Pencil, 2020

29,5 x 21 cm

Slender horned gazelle (Gazella leptoceros)

Mixed media, 2020

24 x 17 cm

Hezhengia bohlini (Antilopinae), Miocene, China

H. bohlini was a species of bovid that was found in the Liushu Formation at the Linxia Basin in China. Most likely it was a mixed feeder doing both grazing and browsing.

Coloured pencil, 2020

32 x 24 cm

Plesiaddax depereti (Urmiatherini), Miocene, Eurasia

The Urmiatherini, which are close related to modern goat-antelopes (Caprini), are an extinct group of very diverse-looking bovids. One genus of them was Plesiaddax, which had horns different from any today’s forms, but a body similar to extant wildebeests (Connochaetes). According to this it was a resident of more open habitats, where it fed mostly on grass.

Coloured pencil, 2020

30 x 24 cm

Thaleroceros radiciformis, Lower – Middle Pleistocene, East Africa

This antelope is probably a member of the reedbuck-relatives (Reduncini). This is supposed on account of the direction of the horns and the presence of a second pair of horns. This feature is sometimes visible in modern reedbucks. According to Prof. Dr. Hans Reck (1886-1937), who described the fossil, this second pair of horns were not covered by keratin. Because of the scarce remains, which show not much more than the impressive horns, its systematic position remains unclear.

Coloured pencil, 2020

32 x 24 cm

Summary of all fossil Alcelaphini-genera with selected species

Coloured pencil drawings, digitally composed; 2018

The reconstructions were made with kindly support by paleontologist Dr. Faysal Bibi from the Museum for Natural History Berlin.

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Menelikia lyrocera (Bovidae), Pliocene – Pleistocene, East Africa

This medium-sized antelope had horns with transverse ridges and was possibly similar to today’s Nile lechwe / Mrs Gray’s lechwe (Kobus megaceros) in its ecology.

Pencil, 2019

29,5 x 21 cm

The picture was drawn from two exhibits at the National Museum of Natural History (MNHN) in Paris.

Numidocapra crassicornis (Bovidae), Early Pleistocene, North- and East Africa

Fossils of this widespread species were found in Ethiopia, Djibouti and Algeria. Temporary it was placed in Caprinae. A special feature are the horns that curve foreward in side view. The name means “goat from Numidia”, an ancient kingdom in North Africa.

Coloured pencil, 2018

30 x 24 cm

Awashia suwai (Bovidae), Late Pliocene, Ethiopia

A. suwai was found at the Matabaietu formation which is located at the eponymous river Awash in Ethiopia. It lived there about 2,5 million years ago together with hominids like Australopithecus garhi and maybe Paranthropus aethiopicus.

Coloured pencil, 2018

30 x 24 cm

Damalops palaeindicus (Bovidae), Late Pliocene, South Asia

This is a notably species in two aspects: on the one hand it is the only known alcelaphine outside of Africa, on the other hand its horn form is very simple compared to other Alcelaphini. D. palaeindicus lived during the Pinjor formation about 2,5 million years ago in the area of today’s Siwaliks (southern Himalayas) in India. There are also remains from  the Republic of Tajikistan.

Coloured pencil, 2018

30 x 24 cm

Parmularius maasaicus (Bovidae); Pleistocene, East Africa

A medium-sized alcelaphine which was only found at Olduvai Gorge. I could be an ancestor of the extant hartebeests (Alcelaphus). It was named in honor of the Maasai people who live in the Olduvai Gorge area.

Coloured pencil, 2018

30 x 24 cm

Damalacra neanica (Bovidae), Early Pliocene, South Africa

An alcelaphine that lived about 5,3 – 3,6 million years ago. Probably their feeding niches range from browsers to mixed feeders. D. neanica was about as large as today’s blesbok (Damaliscus pygargus phillipsi).

Coloured pencil, 2018

30 x 24 cm

Abschied von Marcus Burkhardt

Alles was schön ist, bleibt auch schön,
auch wenn es welkt.
Und unsere Liebe bleibt Liebe,
auch wenn wir sterben.
Maxim Gorki

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