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Common Eland

 
Common Eland

 
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The Common Eland (Taurotragus (Tragelaphus) oryx, also known as the Southern Eland) is a savannah
Savanna

A savanna, or savannah, is a tropical, subtropical or temperate woodland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the Canopy does not close....
 and plain
Plain

In geography, a plain is an area of landscape with relatively high relief, as well as flat. Prairies and steppes are types of plains, and the archetype for a plain is often thought of as a grassland, but plains in their natural state may also be covered in shrublands, woodland and forest, or vegetation may be absent in the case of sandy or...
s antelope
Antelope

Antelope are ruminant hoofed mammals of the family Bovidae in the order of even-toed ungulates. These animals are spread relatively evenly throughout the various subfamily of Bovidae and many are more closely related to cows or goats than to each other....
 found in East
East Africa

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN subregion, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
 and Southern Africa
Southern Africa

Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics, consisting of numerous territories....
.

Common Eland is considered, alongside the ironically similarly-dimensioned Giant Eland
Giant Eland

The 'Giant Eland' is an open forest savannah antelope. It is found in Central African Republic, Sudan, Cameroon and Senegal. There are two subspecies: the endangered T....
, the largest species of "antelope", though in many respects the Elands are quite bovine
Bovinae

The biological subfamily bovinae includes a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large sized ungulates, including domestic cattle, the bison, the Bubalus, the yak, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes....
. Females weigh , measure from the snout to the base of the tail and stand at the shoulder.






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The Common Eland (Taurotragus (Tragelaphus) oryx, also known as the Southern Eland) is a savannah
Savanna

A savanna, or savannah, is a tropical, subtropical or temperate woodland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the Canopy does not close....
 and plain
Plain

In geography, a plain is an area of landscape with relatively high relief, as well as flat. Prairies and steppes are types of plains, and the archetype for a plain is often thought of as a grassland, but plains in their natural state may also be covered in shrublands, woodland and forest, or vegetation may be absent in the case of sandy or...
s antelope
Antelope

Antelope are ruminant hoofed mammals of the family Bovidae in the order of even-toed ungulates. These animals are spread relatively evenly throughout the various subfamily of Bovidae and many are more closely related to cows or goats than to each other....
 found in East
East Africa

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN subregion, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
 and Southern Africa
Southern Africa

Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics, consisting of numerous territories....
.

Description

The Common Eland is considered, alongside the ironically similarly-dimensioned Giant Eland
Giant Eland

The 'Giant Eland' is an open forest savannah antelope. It is found in Central African Republic, Sudan, Cameroon and Senegal. There are two subspecies: the endangered T....
, the largest species of "antelope", though in many respects the Elands are quite bovine
Bovinae

The biological subfamily bovinae includes a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large sized ungulates, including domestic cattle, the bison, the Bubalus, the yak, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes....
. Females weigh , measure from the snout to the base of the tail and stand at the shoulder. Bulls weigh , are from the snout to the base of the tail and stand at the shoulder. The tail adds a further . Females have a tan coat, while males have a darker tan coat with a blueish-grey tinge; there may also be a series of white stripes vertically on the sides of bulls (mainly in parts of the karoo
Karoo

The Karoo is a semi-desert region of South Africa. It has two main sub-regions - the Great Karoo in the north and the Little Karoo in the south....
 in South Africa
South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
). Males have dense fur
Fur

Fur is a Hair of any non-human mammal, also known as the pelage. It may consist of short ground hair, long guard hair, and, in some cases, medium awn hair....
 on their foreheads and a large dewlap
Dewlap

A dewlap is a flap of skin that hangs beneath the lower jaw of tetrapods, that is, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals and their relatives....
. Both sexes have horns, about long and with a steady spiral ridge (resembling that of the bushbuck
Bushbuck

The Bushbuck is an antelope that is found in forest and woodland throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. Also called "bush antelope", this is used occasionally for any relativers with which it shares its habitat....
). The female's horns are wider set and thinner than the male's.

Ecology and behavior

Common Eland live on the open plains of Southern Africa and along the foothills of the great South African plateau. They eat grass
Grass

Grass is the common word that generally describes monocotyledonous green plants. The family Poaceae are the "true grasses" and include most plants grown as grains, for pasture, and for lawns ....
, branch
Branch

A branch or tree branch is a woody structural Limb connected to but not part of the central trunk of a tree . Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs.....
es and leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 and are diurnal but tend to be inactive during the heat of day. Herds usually have 30 to 80 individuals, but are known to exceed 400. The Common Eland has an unusual social life, leaving or joining herds as necessary without forming close ties.

The size and power of the bull Eland generally (but not always) discourages predators, but females are thought to be more vulnerable to attack. Known Eland predators include lion
Lion

The lion is a member of the family Felidae and one of four big cats in the genus Panthera. With exceptionally large males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger....
s, Spotted Hyena
Spotted Hyena

The Spotted Hyena, or Laughing Hyena, is a Carnivora mammal of the family hyaenidae. It is the largest of the hyenas, and is native to sub-Saharan Africa, save for the Congo basin....
s, African Wild Dog
African Wild Dog

The African Wild Dog is a Carnivore mammal of the Canidae family, found only in Africa, especially in scrub savanna and other lightly wooded areas....
s and, rarely, leopard
Leopard

The leopard is a member of the Felidae biological family and the smallest of the four "Panthera" in the genus Panthera; the other three are the tiger, lion and jaguar....
s.

Taxonomy

Common Eland are sometimes considered part of the genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 Tragelaphus
Tragelaphus

The genus Tragelaphus contains several species of bovine, all of which are relatively antelope. Species in this genus tend to be large sized, lightly built, have long necks and considerable sexual dimorphism....
, but are usually categorised as Taurotragus
Taurotragus

Taurotragus, also called Eland, is a genus of antelopes of the African savannah, containing two species: the Common Eland and the Giant Eland....
, along with the Giant Eland.

Name

The name "Eland" is derived from the Dutch word
Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic languages spoken by over 22 million people as a first language, and about 5 million people as a second language."1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language speakers of Dutch is very small. Most native...
 for moose
Moose

File:Alces alces NA.svgThe moose or elk , , is the largest Extant taxon species in the deer family . Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a "twig-like" configuration....
. When Dutch
Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
 settlers came to the Cape Province
Cape Province

The Cape of Good Hope Province was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Colony, and had Cape Town as its capital....
 they named the largest wild ruminant
Ruminant

Physiologically, a ruminant is a mammal of the order Artiodactyla that digests plant-based food by initially softening it within the animal's first stomach, known as the rumen, then regurgitating the semi-digested mass, now known as cud, and chewing it again....
 herbivore they met with the name of the huge northern herbivore.

In Dutch the animal is called " Eland antelope" to distinguish it from the moose, which is found in the northern boreal forests
Taiga

Taiga is a biome characterized by coniferous forests. Covering most of inland Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Finland, inland Norway and Russia , as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States , northern Kazakhstan and Japan , the taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome....
.

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