Editing Wildebeest (section)

=== Taxonomy and evolution ===
The genus name ''Connochaetes'' derives from the [[Ancient Greek]] words {{lang|grc|κόννος}}, {{transliteration|grc|kónnos}} '[[beard]]',<ref>{{LSJ|ko/nnos|κόννος|ref}}.</ref> and [[:wikt:χαίτη|χαίτη]], {{transliteration|grc|khaítē}} 'flowing hair, [[lion#Mane|mane]]'.<ref>{{LSJ|xai/th|χαίτη|shortref}}.</ref><ref name=Benirschke>{{cite web |url=http://placentation.ucsd.edu/gnu.html |title=Wildebeest, Gnu |last=Benirschke |first=Kurt |year=2002 |work=Comparative Placentation |publisher=University of California San Diego |access-date=25 March 2014}}</ref> It is placed under the family Bovidae and subfamily [[Alcelaphinae]], where its closest relatives are the hartebeest (''[[Alcelaphus]]'' spp.), the [[hirola]] (''Beatragus hunteri''), and species in the genus ''[[Damaliscus]]'', such as the [[topi]], the [[Common tsessebe|tsessebe]], the [[blesbok]] and the [[bontebok]].<ref name=msw3/> The name ''Connochaetes'' was given by German [[zoology|zoologist]] [[Hinrich Lichtenstein]] in 1812.<ref name=msw3/><ref name=groves>{{cite book|last=Groves|first=C.|title=Ungulate Taxonomy |year=2011 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|location=Baltimore, Maryland|isbn=978-1-4214-0093-8|author2=Grubb, P.}}</ref>

In the early 20th century, one species of the wildebeest, ''C. albojubatus'', was identified in eastern Africa. In 1914, two separate races of the wildebeest were introduced, namely ''Gorgon a. albojubatus'' ("Athi white-bearded wildebeest") and ''G. a. mearnsi'' ("Loita white-bearded wildebeest"). However, in 1939, the two were once again merged into a single race, ''Connochaetes taurinus albojubatus''. In the mid-20th century, two separate forms were recognised, ''Gorgon taurinus hecki'' and ''G. t. albojubatus''.<ref name=talbot/> Finally, two distinct types of wildebeest – the blue and black wildebeest – were identified. The blue wildebeest was at first placed under a separate genus, ''Gorgon'',<ref name=nowak/><ref name=corbet>{{cite journal|last1=Corbet|first1=S. W.|last2=Robinson |first2= T. J.|title=Genetic divergence in South African Wildebeest: comparative cytogenetics and analysis of mitochondrial DNA|journal=The Journal of Heredity|date=November–December 1991 |volume=82 |issue=6 |pages=447–52 |pmid=1795096 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a111126}}</ref> while the black wildebeest belonged to the genus ''Connochaetes''. Today, they are united in the single genus ''Connochaetes'', with the black wildebeest being named (''C. gnou'') and the blue wildebeest (''C. taurinus'').<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3|id=14200508|page=676}}</ref>

According to a [[mitochondrial DNA]] analysis, the black wildebeest are estimated to have diverged from the main lineage during the [[Middle Pleistocene]] and became a distinct species around a million years ago.<ref name=bassi>{{cite book |last=Bassi |first=J. |title=Pilot in the Wild: Flights of Conservation and Survival |year=2013 |publisher=Jacana Media |isbn=978-1-4314-0871-9 |pages=116–118}}</ref> A divergence rate around 2% has been calculated.<ref name=corbet/> The split does not seem to have been driven by [[Competition (biology)|competition]] for resources, but instead because each species adopted a different [[ecological niche]] and occupied a different [[trophic level]].<ref name=Codron>{{cite journal |author1=Codron, Daryl |author2=Brink, James S. |year=2007 |title=Trophic ecology of two savanna grazers, blue wildebeest ''Connochaetes taurinus'' and black wildebeest ''Connochaetes gnou'' |journal=European Journal of Wildlife Research |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=90–99 |doi=10.1007/s10344-006-0070-2 |s2cid=26717246 |url=http://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/25325/2/D_Codron.pdf |access-date=20 December 2018 |archive-date=7 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807072425/https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/25325/2/D_Codron.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=December 2021}}

Blue wildebeest fossils dating back some 2.5 million years ago are common and widespread. They have been found in the fossil-bearing caves at the [[Cradle of Humankind]] north of [[Johannesburg]]. Elsewhere in South Africa, they are plentiful at such sites as [[Saldanha Bay|Elandsfontein]], [[Cornelia, Free State|Cornelia]], and [[Florisbad]].<ref name=hb>{{cite book|last=B.|first=Hilton-Barber|title=Field Guide to the Cradle of Humankind : Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai & Environs World Heritage Site|year=2004 |publisher=Struik|location=Cape Town|isbn=978-177-0070-653 |pages=162–163 |edition=2nd |author2=Berger, L. R.}}</ref> The earliest fossils of the black wildebeest were found in sedimentary rock in Cornelia in the [[Free State (province)|Free State]] and dated back about 800,000 years.<ref name=Codron/> Today, five subspecies of the blue wildebeest are recognised, while the black wildebeest has no named subspecies.<ref name=ackermann>{{cite journal|last=Ackermann|first=Rebecca|author2=James S. Brink |author3=Savvas Vrahimis |author4=Bonita de Klerk |title=Hybrid Wildebeest (Artiodactyla: Bovidae) Provide Further Evidence For Shared Signatures of Admixture in Mammalian Crania|journal=South African Journal of Science|year=2010 |volume=106 |issue=11/12 |pages=90–94 |doi=10.4102/sajs.v106i11/12.423|doi-access=free |hdl=11427/27315 |hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/animal/gnu|title=gnu {{!}} mammal|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2017-08-23|language=en}}</ref>