The springbok is the national animal of South Africa. == Etymology == The common name "springbok" comes from the Afrikaans words spring ("jump") and bok ("antelope" or "goat"); the first recorded use of the name dates to 1775.
The sole member of the genus Antidorcas, this bovid was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann in 1780.
It was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann in 1780.
marsupialis (Zimmermann, 1780) – Its range lies south of the Orange River, extending from the northeastern Cape of Good Hope to the Free State and Kimberley. == Description == The springbok is a slender antelope with long legs and neck.
In 1845, Swedish zoologist Carl Jakob Sundevall placed the springbok in Antidorcas, a genus of its own. In 2013, Eva Verena Bärmann (of the University of Cambridge) and colleagues undertook a revision of the phylogeny of the tribe Antilopini on the basis of nuclear and mitochondrial data.
angolensis (Blaine, 1922) – Occurs in Benguela and Moçâmedes (southwestern Angola). A.
hofmeyri (Thomas, 1926) – Occurs in Berseba and Great Namaqualand (southwestern Africa).
The study pointed out that the saiga and the springbok could be considerably different from the rest of the antilopines; a 2007 phylogenetic study even suggested that the two form a clade sister to the gerenuk.
Springbok are generally quiet animals, though they may make occasional low-pitched bellows as a greeting and high-pitched snorts when alarmed. === Parasites === A 2012 study on the effects of rainfall patterns and parasite infections on the body of the springbok in Etosha National Park observed that males and juveniles were in better health toward the end of the rainy season.
In 1845, Swedish zoologist Carl Jakob Sundevall placed the springbok in Antidorcas, a genus of its own. In 2013, Eva Verena Bärmann (of the University of Cambridge) and colleagues undertook a revision of the phylogeny of the tribe Antilopini on the basis of nuclear and mitochondrial data.
The cladogram below is based on the 2013 study. Fossil springbok are known from the Pliocene; the antelope appears to have evolved about three million years ago from a gazelle-like ancestor.
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