Bovidae
Author
Don E. Wilson
Author
Russell A. Mittermeier
text
2011
2011-08-31
Lynx Edicions
Barcelona
Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 2 Hoofed Mammals
444
779
book chapter
58516
10.5281/zenodo.6512484
67b52095-db4b-43f8-a661-4aced0511111
978-84-96553-77-4
6512484
155.
Bangweulu Tsessebe
Damaliscus superstes
French:
Sassaby du Bangweulu
/
German:
Bangweulu-Sassaby
/
Spanish:
Topi
del Bangweulu
Taxonomy.
Damaliscus superstes Cotterill, 2003
,
Muku Muku Flats
,
12° 21' S
,
30° E
.
Southwest Bangweulu Flats
.
This species is monotypic.
Distribution.
Bangweulu district, NE
Zambia
and the bordering region of Katanga in SE
DR Congo
. The range is bounded to the N by the Chambeshi and Luapula rivers, and to the S by the Muchinga Escarpment.
Descriptive notes.
There are no specific measurements available. Larger than its sister species, the Western Tsessebe (
D. lunatus
), and the horns are thicker and wider spread, with a broader pedicle. The horns grow symmetrically outward, with the tips curving inward, to form a sphere. The horns are slightly sexually dimorphic; horn length is 35.1-40 cm (males) and 30.4-39.
5 cm
(females). Tip-to-tip distance is 22-23.
4 cm
(males) and 20-33.
5 cm
(females); horn span is 37.8-44.
6 cm
(males) and 34.2-43 cm (females). Greatest skull length is 39-43.
5 cm
in both sexes, and maxillary tooth row is 83:9-105-3 mm (both sexes). The pelage color is chocolate brown, darker than the Western Tsessebe; the face blaze is black, the shoulder and haunch patches mostly dark blackish-gray. The ears are particularly dark.
Habitat.
Like other large species of
Damaliscus
, the Bangweulu Tsessebe lives in edaphic grasslands.
Food and Feeding.
There is no specific information available for this species, but presumably it is overwhelmingly a grass-feeder like other tsessebe.
Breeding.
There is no specific information available for this species, but it is mostlikely a seasonal breeder.
Activity patterns.
There islittle specific information available for this species, but it is diurnal.
Movements, Home range and Social organization.
There is no specific information available forthis species, but it is most likely similar to Western Tsessebe in all of these aspects.
Status and Conservation.
Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List (as
D. lunatus
superstes
). The Bangweulu Tsessebe appears to have become extinct in Katanga, and the range in
Zambia
has shrunk, but there are still good populations on the southern half of the Bangweulu Flats.
Bibliography.
Cotterill (2003).