Blue wildebeest is placed in the family Bovidae, ruminant animals with cloven hooves. The generic name "Connochaetes" derives from the Greek words κόννος, kónnos, "beard", and χαίτη, khaítē, "flowing hair", "mane". The specific name "taurinus" originates from the Greek word "tauros", which means a bull or bullock. The common name "blue wildebeest" refers to the conspicuous, silvery-blue sheen of the coat, while the alternative name "gnu" originates from the name for these animals used by the Khokloi people, a native pastoralist people of southwestern Africa. Though the blue and black wildebeest are currently classified in the same genus, the latter was previously
Wildebeest are fused. Both species of wildebeest are even-toed, horned, greyish-brown ungulates resembling cattle. Males are larger than females and both have heavy forequarters compared to their hindquarters. They have broad muzzles, Roman noses, and shaggy manes and tails. The most striking morphological differences between the black and blue wildebeest are the orientation and curvature of their horns and the color of their coats. The blue wildebeest is the bigger of the two species. In males, blue wildebeest stand 150 cm tall at the shoulder and weigh around 250 kg, while the black wildebeest stands 111 to 120 cm tall and