Blue wildebeest in Hierakonopolis (Nekhen), which used to be the religious and political capital of Upper Egypt at that time. This may be evidence that the animal used to occur in North Africa and was associated with the ancient Egyptians. Blue wildebeest The blue wildebeest ("Connochaetes taurinus"), also called the common wildebeest, white-bearded wildebeest, or brindled gnu, is a large antelope and one of the two species of wildebeests. It is placed in the genus "Connochaetes" and family Bovidae, and has a close taxonomic relationship with the black wildebeest. The blue wildebeest is known to have five subspecies. This broad-shouldered antelope has
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