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 level. Blue wildebeest fossils dating back some 2.5 million years ago are common and widespread. They have been found in the fossil-bearing caves at the Cradle of Humankind north of Johannesburg. Elsewhere in South Africa, they are plentiful at such sites as Elandsfontein, Cornelia, and Florisbad. The earliest fossils of the black wildebeest were found in sedimentary rock in Cornelia in the Orange Free State and dated back about 800,000 years. Today, five subspecies of the blue wildebeest are recognized, while the black wildebeest has no named subspecies. The diploid number of chromosomes in the wildebeest is 58. Chromosomes were