Wildebeest Wildebeest Wildebeests, also called gnus, are antelopes in the genus Connochaetes. They belong to the family Bovidae, which includes antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep, and other even-toed horned ungulates. "Connochaetes" includes two species, both native to Africa: the black wildebeest or white-tailed gnu ("C. gnou"), and the blue wildebeest or brindled gnu ("C. taurinus"). Fossil records suggest these two species diverged about one million years ago, resulting in a northern and a southern species. The blue wildebeest remained in its original range and changed very little from the ancestral species, while the black wildebeest changed more in order to adapt to
Blue wildebeest acrocentric. Metaphases were studied in the male's chromosomes, and very large submetacentric chromosomes were found there, as well, similar to those in the female both in size and morphology. the rest were acrocentric. The X chromosome is a large acrocentric, while the Y chromosome is a minute one. This species of wildebeest seems to have evolved around 2.5 million years ago. The black wildebeest is believed to have diverged from the blue wildebeest to become a distinct species around a million years ago, in the mid- to late Pleistocene. Fossil evidence suggests that blue wildebeest were quite common in the