Black wildebeest Black wildebeest The black wildebeest or white-tailed gnu ("Connochaetes gnou") is one of the two closely related wildebeest species. It is a member of the genus "Connochaetes" and family Bovidae. It was first described in 1780 by Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann. The black wildebeest is typically in head-and-body length, and the typical weight is . Males stand about at the shoulder, while the height of the females is . The black wildebeest is characterised by its white, long, horse-like tail. It also has a dark brown to black coat and long, dark-coloured hair between its forelegs and under its
Black wildebeest in the 1800s. The black wildebeest is currently included in the same genus as the blue wildebeest ("Connochaetes taurinus"). This has not always been the case, and at one time the latter was placed under a separate genus of its own, "Gorgon". The black wildebeest lineage seems to have diverged from the blue wildebeest in the mid- to late Pleistocene, and became a distinct species around a million years ago. This evolution is quite recent on a geologic time scale. Features necessary for defending a territory, such as the horns and broad-based skull of the modern black wildebeest, have been