Black wildebeest the hybrid as compared to either of its parents. In some animals, the auditory bullae are highly deformed, and in others, the radius and ulna are fused. Black wildebeest are sexually dimorphic, with females being smaller in size and more slender than males. The head-and-body length is typically between . Males reach about at the shoulder, while females reach . Males typically weigh and females . A distinguishing feature in both sexes is the tail, which is long and similar to that of a horse. Its bright-white colour gives this animal the vernacular name of "white-tailed gnu", and also distinguishes
Black wildebeest it from the blue wildebeest, which has a black tail. The length of the tail ranges from . The black wildebeest has a dark brown or black coat, which is slightly paler in summer and coarser and shaggier in the winter. Calves are born with shaggy, fawn-coloured fur. Males are darker than females. They have bushy and dark-tipped manes that, as in the blue wildebeest, stick up from the back of the neck. The hairs which compose this are white or cream-coloured with dark tips. On its muzzle and under its jaw it has black bristly hair. It also has