Tragoportax

Tragoportax Temporal range: Miocene ~11–7 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Horns of Tragoportax amalthea
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Bovidae
Subfamily:	Bovinae
Tribe:	Boselaphini
Genus:	†Tragoportax Pilgrim, 1937
Type species
Tragoportax salmontanus[1] Pilgrim, 1937
Species
T. acrae Gentry, 1974 T. amalthea Roth & Wagner, 1854 T. cyrenaicus Thomas, 1979 T. eldaricus Gabashvili, 1956 T. macedoniensis Bouvrain, 1988 ?T. maius Meladze, 1967 T. rugosifrons Schlosser, 1904 T. salmontanus Pilgrim, 1937 T. perses Orak et al., 2023
Synonyms
Tragocerus Gaudry, 1861[2][3] Pontoportax Kretzoi, 1941[3] Gazelloportax Kretzoi, 1941[3] Mirabilocerus Hadjiev, 1961[3] Tragoceridus Kretzoi, 1968[3] Mesembriportax Gentry, 1974[3] Mesotragocerus Korotkevich, 1982[3]

Tragoportax is an extinct genus of bovid ungulate. It lived during the upper Miocene, and its fossils have been found in Europe, Asia and Africa.^[4] Tragoportax is sometimes considered to have been a close relative of the extant nilgai, though it may have formed its own subfamily, along with Miotragocerus.^[3]

Species within the genus Tragoportax were sexually dimorphic, and were variable in size, although most were about the size of a red deer.^[3]

The skull of Tragoportax had a short snout and elongated rear. The horns were large and curved backwards, and in some species (notably T. amalthea and T. perses) were twisted. The horns of females and young were smaller and thinner than those of adult males; in both sexes, the horns had a well-marked posterolateral keel and flat sides. The cross-section of the horns was usually triangular or subtriangular. Compared to those of the related Miotragocerus, the horns were less laterally compressed.^[3]

The first fossils of Tragoportax were described in 1854 by Roth and Wagner under the name Capra amalthea, and a few years later Gaudry (1861) thought it appropriate to reclassify these fossils into a genus of their own (Tragocerus). The name Tragocerus, however, was preoccupied by a longhorn beetle,^[5] and it was therefore necessary to rename the animal. In 1937, Guy Ellcock Pilgrim coined the generic name Tragoportax.^[1]

Several species are known from the genus Tragoportax: the type species is T. salmontanus, described by Guy Ellcock Pilgrim in 1937 on the basis of fossils found on the Siwaliks in Pakistan;^[1] other well-known species are T. amalthea, well known thanks to several fossils found in the Greek deposit of Pikermi, and T. rugosifrons, widespread (Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine, Pakistan, Iran). Other lesser-known species are T. maius (a possible synonym of T. eldaricus)^[3] of Georgia and Azerbaijan, T. cyrenaicus of Libya, T. macedoniensis of Greece and T. acrae of South Africa. The latter species may have been the last to disappear, in the early Pliocene, and was originally ascribed to a separate genus, Mesembriportax. Another well-known species often ascribed to Tragoportax is T. gaudryi, from various European deposits: however, this form has been reclassified as a species of the related genus Miotragocerus.^[6] In 2023, a new species, Tragoportax perses, was described.^[7]

The classification of Tragoportax and its kin remains a matter of debate. It has commonly been assigned to the tribe Boselaphini, alongside the modern nilgai.^[3] Bibi et al. (2009) suggested that modern boselaphines and their Miocene relatives should be separated, with Tragoportax being reassigned to the tribe Tragoportacini,^[8] which also includes Miotragocerus.^[8][9]

The long legs of Tragoportax indicate that this animal was cursorial, moving quickly across open, forested plains, and was probably also a good jumper. A 2004 study indicates that Tragoportax was strongly sexually dimorphic, based on the shape and size of the horns.^[3] T. rugosifrons was a mixed feeder based on paired analysis of dental stable isotopes and microwear.^[10]