Pelorovis

The holotype of Pelorovis, consisting of a skull (Pel 1) and multiple horn cores and skull pieces (Pel 1–Pel 23), was found in Olduvai Gorge, in northern German East Africa (now Tanzania), by geologist Hans Reck. The expedition in question was the first time the locality was explored by a palaeontologist. Initially, Reck believed that he had uncovered the remains of a large member of the subfamily Caprinae, which includes modern goats and sheep. Specifically, he believed that the fossils he had uncovered represented a close relative of the latter, though one that was quite geographically isolated. The fossils were kept in Berlin, and in 1928, Reck described a new genus and species, Pelorovis oldowayensis, to accommodate them.{{Cite journal |last=Reck |first=Hans |author-link=Hans Reck |date=1928 |title=Pelorovis oldowayensis nov. gen. nov. sp. |journal=Wissenschaft. Ergebnisse der Oldoway-Expedition 1913, N.F. |volume=3 |pages=56–67}} The binomial name chosen by Reck is compounded from the Greek πέλωρος (péloros) in the sense of "monstrous" or "huge and terrible"{{cite book |last1=Liddell |first1=Henry George |author-link=Henry Liddell |title=A Greek–English Lexicon |last2=Scott |first2=Robert |author-link2=Robert Scott (philologist) |date=1940 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |chapter=πέλωρ- |chapter-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dpe%2Flwros}} and Latin ovis, meaning "sheep".{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=Charlton T. |author-link=Charlton T. Lewis |title=A Latin Dictionary |last2=Short |first2=Charles |author-link2=Charles Short |date=1879 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |chapter=Ovis |chapter-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=ovis&la=la&can=ovis0&prior=lana&d=Perseus:text:1999.02.0004:text=comm:poem=2&i=1#lexicon}}

In 1991, John Michael Harris described remains uncovered as part of the Koobi Fora research project in northern Kenya. Distinguishing it from Pelorovis oldowayensis based on its smaller and more upwardly curved horns, he named it P. turkanensis.{{Cite book |last=Harris |first=John Michael |title=Koobi Fora research project: geology, fossil artiodactyls, and palaeoenvironments |date=1991 |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0-19-857399-9 |location=Oxford}} In 2004, Denis Geraads, Véra Eisenmann and Germaine Petter further divided P. turkanensis into two subspecies: P. turkanensis brachyceras, and P. turkanensis turkanensis, the former distinguished from the latter by having horn cores with a thick base that quickly taper along their length.{{Cite journal |last1=Geraads |first1=Denis |last2=Eisenmann |first2=Véra |last3=Petter |first3=Germaine |date=2004 |title=The large mammal fauna of the Oldowan sites of Melka Kunture |url=https://doc.rero.ch/record/31387 |journal=Studies on the Early Paleolithic Site of Melka Kunture, Ethiopia |pages=169–192}}

In 2005, Djillali Hadjouis and Mohamed Sahnouni described a third Pelorovis species based on a partial skull recovered from the Aïn Hanech Formation of Algeria. The specimen preserved the upper part of the frontals and parietals, as well as both horn cores. The new taxon was named Pelorovis howelli, after palaeontologist Clark Howell. It differed from the other two species in having smaller horn cores that were set farther apart.{{Cite journal |last1=Hadjouis |first1=Djillali |last2=Sahnouni |first2=Mohamed |date=2006 |title=Pelorovis howelli nov. sp. (Mammalia, Artiodactyla): a new bovine from the Lower Pleistocene site of Aïn Hanech (El-Kherba locus), Northeastern Algeria |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0016699506000465 |journal=Geobios |language=en |volume=39 |issue=5 |pages=673–678 |doi=10.1016/j.geobios.2005.04.006|bibcode=2006Geobi..39..673H |url-access=subscription }}

In 1979, Camille Arambourg named Bos bubaloides and B. praeafricanus, both from Aïn Hanech.{{Cite journal |last=Arambourg |first=Camille |author-link=Camille Arambourg |date=1979 |title=Les Vertébrés villafranchiens d'Afrique du Nord (Artiodactyles, Carnivores, Primates, Reptiles, Oiseaux) |journal=Paris: Singer-Polignac.}} In 1998, Denis Geraads & Fethi Amani re-examined the remains and tentatively reassigned them to Pelorovis.{{Cite journal |last1=Geraads |first1=Denis |last2=Amani |first2=Fethi |date=1998-04-01 |title=Bovidae (Mammalia) du Pliocène final d'Ahl al Oughlam, Casablanca, Maroc |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02987826 |journal=Paläontologische Zeitschrift |language=fr |volume=72 |issue=1 |pages=191–205 |doi=10.1007/BF02987826|url-access=subscription }} Thus, P. praeafricanus is occasionally regarded as a species of Pelorovis. However, the syntype of P. praeafricanus, a metacarpal, closely resembles that of P. oldowayensis, and it may represent the same taxon.{{Cite book |last1=Ahnouni |first1=Mohamed S. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/229032520 |title=The cutting edge: new approaches to the archaeology of human origins |last2=van der Made |first2=Jan |date=2009 |publisher=Stone Age Institute Press |isbn=978-0-9792276-2-2 |editor-last=Schick |editor-first=Kathy Diane |series=Stone Age Institute publication series |location=Gosport, IN |chapter=The Oldowan in North Africa Within a Biochronological Framework |oclc=229032520 |editor-last2=Toth |editor-first2=Nicholas Patrick |editor-last3=Stone Age Institute}}

A 2007 study by Bienvenido Martínez-Navarro and colleagues of the morphology of the fossil remains came to the conclusion that Pelorovis is probably not monophyletic. These authors reclassify the early forms of the genus, P. turkanensis and P. oldowayensis, in the genus Bos. In contrast, they find that the late Pleistocene form Pelorovis antiquus seems to be a close relative of the modern African buffalo (Syncerus caffer). This approach essentially subsumes the genus as a synonym of Bos, because the type species is P. oldowayensis.{{cite journal |last1=Martínez-Navarro |first1=Bienvenido |last2=Pérez-Claros |first2=Juan Antonio |last3=Palombo |first3=Maria Rita |last4=Rook |first4=Lorenzo |last5=Palmqvist |first5=Paul |date=September 2007 |title=The Olduvai buffalo Pelorovis and the origin of Bos |url=http://www.cetnotorolidia.org/opencms_wf/opencms/system/modules/es.jcyl.ita.site.torodelidia/elements/galleries/galeria_downloads/The_origin_of_Bos.pdf |journal=Quaternary Research |volume=68 |issue=2 |pages=220–226 |bibcode=2007QuRes..68..220M |doi=10.1016/j.yqres.2007.06.002 |s2cid=55104027 |access-date=8 January 2020}} A number of the authors of this study reiterated their classification of the taxa Pelorovis turkanensis and P. oldowayensis in the genus Bos in another paper published 2014.{{cite journal |last1=Martínez-Navarro |first1=Bienvenido |last2=Narjess |first2=Karoui-Yaakoub |last3=Oms |first3=Oriol |last4=Amri |first4=Lamjed |last5=López-García |first5=Juan Manuel |last6=Zerai |first6=Kamel |last7=Blain |first7=Hugues-Alexandre |last8=Mtimet |first8=Moncef-Saïd |last9=Espigares |first9=María-Patrocinio |last10=Ben Haj Ali |first10=Nebiha |last11=Ros-Montoya |first11=Sergio |last12=Boughdiri |first12=Mabrouk |last13=Agustí |first13=Jordi |last14=Khayati-Amma |first14=Hayet |last15=Maalaoui |first15=Kamel |last16=Om El Khir |first16=Maahmoudi |last17=Sala |first17=Robert |last18=Othmani |first18=Abdelhak |last19=Hawas |first19=Ramla |last20=Gómez-Merino |first20=Gala |last21=Solè |first21=Àlex |last22=Carbonell |first22=Eudald |last23=Palmqvist |first23=Paul |date=April 2014 |title=The early Middle Pleistocene archeopaleontological site of Wadi Sarrat (Tunisia) and the earliest record of Bos primigenius |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260807498 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=90 |pages=37–46 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.02.016 |bibcode=2014QSRv...90...37M |access-date=3 January 2020}} Alexandre Hassanin, in 2014, followed the interpretations of Martínez-Navarro et al., pointing to previous genetics work which show that the bovid lineages which produced the modern species within the genera Bos, Bubalus and Syncerus split from each other some eight to nine million years ago, indicating that either the fossil ancestors of these species have not yet been discovered, or that they already have been found, but are taxonomically misidentified. Hassanin further pointed out that Martínez-Navarro et al. were only looking for the ancestor of Bos primigenius in their studies of African fossil bovids, and that the Asian species of Bos may have been derived from other fossil species. Lastly, Hassanin notes that if Pelorovis is reduced into synonymy due to these studies, this also implies the other Pleistocene fossil genera Leptobos and Epileptobos are synonymous with Bos.{{cite book |last=Hassanin |first=Alexandre |date=January 2014 |chapter=Systematic and evolution of Bovini |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272825573 |editor1-last=Melletti | editor1-first=D.R. |editor2-last=Burton |editor2-first=J. |title=Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour of Wild Cattle: Implications for Conservation |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=7–21}}

A 2018 study by Tong et al. of the Chinese fossil representation of Bos primigenius uses morphology to dispute these conclusions regarding these taxa belonging to the genus Bos, as well as if they are the ancestral line from which Bos evolved, instead hewing to the traditional interpretation that the Indian Early Pleistocene fossil species Bos acutifrons is the primordial ancestor of Bos.{{cite journal |last1=Tong |first1=Hao-Wen |last2=Chen |first2=Xi |last3=Zhang |first3=Bei |last4=Wang |first4=Fa-Gang |date=January 2018 |title=New fossils of Bos primigenius (Artiodactyla, Mammalia) from Nihewan and Longhua of Hebei, China |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322242810 |journal=Vertebrata PalAsiatica |volume=56 |pages=69–92 |doi=10.19615/j.cnki.1000-3118.170722 |access-date=4 January 2020}}

The long-horned buffalo, Syncerus antiquus, was described by Georges Louis Duvernoy in 1851 from a skull discovered along the Bou Sellam River near the city of Sétif, Algeria. It was found at one meter in depth, when excavating the foundations of a new mill, and subsequently sent to Paris.{{cite journal|last=Duvernoy|first=Georges Louis|author-link=Georges Louis Duvernoy|date=December 1851|title=note sur une espèce de buffle fossile [Bubalis (Arni) antiquus], découverte en Algérie, caractérisée et décrite par M. Duvernoy|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36264852|journal=Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des Sciences|language=fr|volume=33|pages=595–597|access-date=8 January 2020}}{{cite encyclopedia|title=Bubalus antiquus|encyclopedia=Encyclopédie Berbère (online 1 March 2013)|publisher=Edisud|location=Aix-en-Provence|url=http://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/1875|access-date=8 January 2020|last=Camps|first=Gabriel|date=1992|editor-last=Camps|editor-first=Gabriel|volume=11: Bracelets – Caprarienses|issue=11 |pages=1642–1647|doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.1875 |language=fr|doi-access=free}} Duvernoy believed this species to be closely related to the Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) and classified it as Bubalus antiquus. Several other fossils of S. antiquus were described under the names Bubalus bainii and Bubalus nilssoni. In 1949, Dorothy Bate recognized that these buffaloes were conspecific and not related to Bubalus. She placed these fossils in a new genus, Homoioceras.{{cite journal|last1=Bate|first1=Dorothea M.A.|date=1949|title=A new African fossil long-horned buffalo|journal=Annals and Magazine of Natural History|volume=2|issue=17|pages=396–398|doi=10.1080/00222934908526730}} However, the type species of Homoiceros was found to be synonymous with the Cape buffalo, invalidating the genus. It was subsequently moved to Pelorovis in 1978.{{cite book|last1=Maglio|first1=Vincent J.|last2=Cooke|first2=H.B.S.|editor-first1=Vincent J |editor-first2=H. B. S |editor-last1=Maglio |editor-last2=Cooke |date=1978|title=Evolution of African Mammals|publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge|pages=540–572|doi=10.4159/harvard.9780674431263|isbn=9780674431256 }}{{cite journal|last1=Martínez-Navarro|first1=Bienvenido|last2=Pérez-Claros|first2=Juan Antonio|last3=Palombo|first3=Maria Rita|last4=Rook|first4=Lorenzo|last5=Palmqvist|first5=Paul|date=September 2007|title=The Olduvai buffalo Pelorovis and the origin of Bos|url=http://www.cetnotorolidia.org/opencms_wf/opencms/system/modules/es.jcyl.ita.site.torodelidia/elements/galleries/galeria_downloads/The_origin_of_Bos.pdf|journal=Quaternary Research|volume=68|issue=2|pages=220–226|bibcode=2007QuRes..68..220M|doi=10.1016/j.yqres.2007.06.002|s2cid=55104027 |access-date=8 January 2020}} However, a link with the living Cape buffalo has been noted based on morphological and systematic grounds, and since 1994 it has been suggested that P. antiquus be moved into Syncerus.{{Cite journal|last=Klein|first=Richard G.|date=November 1994|title=The Long-Horned African Buffalo (Pelorovis antiquus) is an Extinct Species|journal=Journal of Archaeological Science|language=en|volume=21|issue=6|pages=725–733|doi=10.1006/jasc.1994.1072|doi-access=free|bibcode=1994JArSc..21..725K }} This proposal has since gained widespread acceptance.{{cite journal|last1=Faith|first1=J. Tyler|date=2014|title=Late Pleistocene and Holocene mammal extinctions on continental Africa|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S001282521300175X|journal=Earth-Science Reviews|volume=128|pages=105–121|doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2013.10.009|bibcode=2014ESRv..128..105F |url-access=subscription}} Another former Pelorovis species is "P". kaisensis, named in 1994 based on remains from Kaiso, Uganda. Hadjouis and Sahnouni considered it to be closer to Syncerus in 2005.

Image:Pelorovis.JPG

Pelorovis was anatomically quite similar to members of the genus Bos, such as the aurochs (Bos primigenius). The primary difference between the two genera was that Pelorovis was slightly less robust. Early species were fairly average in size, while later species were larger than modern African buffalo.{{Citation |last=Gentry |first=Alan W. |title=38. Bovidae |date=2010-07-20 |work=Cenozoic Mammals of Africa |pages=741–796 |editor-last=Werdelin |editor-first=Lars |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1525/9780520945425-042/html |access-date=2024-12-16 |publisher=University of California Press |language=en |doi=10.1525/9780520945425-042 |isbn=978-0-520-94542-5 |editor2-last=Sanders |editor2-first=William Joseph|url-access=subscription }}

Pelorovis differs from modern wild cattle in having a relatively long face.{{Cite journal |last=Gentry |first=Alan William |date=1967 |title=Fossil mammals of Africa No. 22. Pelorovis oldowayensis Reck, an extinct bovid from East Africa |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/83479 |journal=Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Geology |volume=14 |pages=245––299}} Both sexes bore massive horn cores that were elongated and curved sharply,{{Cite journal |last1=Gentry |first1=Alan William |last2=Gentry |first2=Anthea |date=1978 |title=Fossil Bovidae (Mammalia) of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, Part 1 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/83406 |journal=Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Geology |volume=29 |pages=289–446}} forming a half-circle shape in the case of P. oldowayensis.Alan Turner & Mauricio Anton: Evolving Eden, An Illustrated Guide to the Evolution of the African Large-Mammal Fauna. Columbia University Press, New York 2004 {{ISBN|0-231-11944-5}} (pp. 159-167) In females, they were smaller and more curved than in males. The horns of one P. oldowayensis specimen had an estimated span of {{Convert|1.83|m|ft|abbr=on}},{{Cite journal |last=Woodruff |first=D. Cary |date=2014 |title=The anatomy of the bifurcated neural spine and its {{sic|nolink=y|reason=error in source|occurence}} within Tetrapoda |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jmor.20283 |journal=Journal of Morphology |language=en |volume=275 |issue=9 |pages=1053–1065 |doi=10.1002/jmor.20283 |pmid=24753263 |issn=1097-4687|url-access=subscription }} whereas the P. howelli holotype had a span of {{Convert|1|m|ft|abbr=on}}. The horn cores erupted from the skull fairly close together, and quite far back. They were slightly dorsoventrally flattened, and were hollowed, as were the frontal bones. Under the orbital cavity, the zygomatic arch was thickened. The lumps at the front of the basioccipital were unusually far apart for a bovine. The occipital bone overall was low and wide, overhung by the horn cores. The horizontal rami of the mandibles were deep, particularly beneath the premolars and molars. The teeth of Pelorovis were somewhat high-crowned, with rugose enamel surfaces. The front part of the fourth lower premolar had a medial wall. The upper molars had wide occlusal surfaces, with poorly developed styles. Dental cement, a hard tissue covering the tooth root was present.

Pelorovis' cervical vertebrae are wide and short, with neural spines that do not slant forwards. The vertebrarterial foraminae (arterial openings) on the second cervical vertebra (axis) are small. The humerus is slightly longer than what is seen in buffalos, and is roughly as thin. The radius is fairly long relative to the humerus, more so than would be expected for a bovine of Pelorovis' size. Only two calcanea can be referred to Pelorovis, which are proportionally longer than those of buffalo. The same is true of the talus and metatarsal.

Stable isotope studies further suggest that species within Pelorovis were probably C₄ grazers.{{Citation |last=Saarinen |first=Juha |title=The Palaeontology of Browsing and Grazing |date=2019 |work=The Ecology of Browsing and Grazing II |series=Ecological Studies |volume=239 |pages=5–59 |editor-last=Gordon |editor-first=Iain J. |url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-25865-8_2 |access-date=2024-12-16 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-25865-8_2 |isbn=978-3-030-25865-8 |editor2-last=Prins |editor2-first=Herbert H. T.|url-access=subscription }} The muzzle of P. oldowayensis was broader than that of P. turkanensis, suggesting that it was more specialised for grazing. This is corroborated by tooth wear patterns which suggest P. oldowayensis primarily grazed. However, some wear patterns suggest mixed feeding, possibly indicating a short-term seasonal dietary shift.{{Cite journal |last1=Domínguez-Rodrigo |first1=Manuel |last2=Sánchez-Flores |first2=Antonio Jesús |last3=Baquedano |first3=Enrique |last4=Carmen Arriaza |first4=Mari |last5=Aramendi |first5=Julia |last6=Cobo-Sánchez |first6=Lucía |last7=Organista |first7=Elia |last8=Barba |first8=Rebeca |date=2019 |title=Constraining time and ecology on the Zinj paleolandscape: Microwear and mesowear analyses of the archaeofaunal remains of FLK Zinj and DS (Bed I), compared to FLK North (Bed I) and BK (Bed II) at Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040618219303209 |journal=Quaternary International |language=en |volume=526 |pages=4–14 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2019.05.041|bibcode=2019QuInt.526....4D |url-access=subscription }}

A bonebed in Olduvai Gorge, Bell Korongo 5 (BK5) preserves a total of 24 mature Pelorovis oldowayensis. Extensively disturbed by either scavengers or water flow, they were initially suspected by their discoverer, Louis Leakey, to represent casualties of a mass mortality event, such as a flood.{{Cite journal |last=Leakey |first=Louis Seymour Bazett |author-link=Louis Leakey |date=1954 |title=The giant animals of prehistoric Tanaganyika and the hunting grounds of Chellean man. New discoveries in Olduvai Gorge. |journal=The Illustrated London News |issue=224 |pages=1047–1051}} However, the remains were found across several vertical intervals, suggesting that they were deposited at different times and during different events. Further, many of them bear cut marks, indicating butchery by hominins. In 2015, it was proposed that the BK5 P. oldowayensis died over the course of many years, as a result of natural death and predation, including by humans such as Homo erectus.{{Cite journal |last1=Organista |first1=Elia |last2=Domínguez-Rodrigo |first2=Manuel |last3=Egeland |first3=Charles P. |last4=Uribelarrea |first4=David |last5=Mabulla |first5=Audax |last6=Baquedano |first6=Enrique |date=2016 |title=Did Homo erectus kill a Pelorovis herd at BK (Olduvai Gorge)? A taphonomic study of BK5 |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12520-015-0241-8 |journal=Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences |language=en |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=601–624 |doi=10.1007/s12520-015-0241-8 |bibcode=2016ArAnS...8..601O |issn=1866-9557|url-access=subscription }} Though this hypothesis was also put forward by Leakey, he proposed that it was a single mass killing. The long-term model was challenged in 2019 by Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo et al., who cited dental remains from BK5 as evidence that it occurred as part of a single event, though did not discount the possibility that it was long-term and attributable to seasonal events.

Most fossils of P. oldowayensis are known from the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. Further remains are known from Eritrea{{Cite journal |last1=MARTÍNEZ-NAVARRO |first1=BIENVENIDO |last2=ROOK |first2=LORENZO |last3=SEGID |first3=AMAHA |last4=YOSIEF |first4=DESSALE |last5=P. FERRETTI |first5=MARCO |last6=SHOSHANI |first6=JEHESKEL |last7=MEDHIN TECLE |first7=TEWELDE |last8=LIBSEKAL |first8=YOSIEF |date=2004-12-31 |title=The Large Fossil Mammals from From Buia (Eritrea):Systematics, Biochronology and Paleoenvironments |url=https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/RIPS/article/view/5765 |journal=Rivista italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia |volume=110 |language=en |pages=Supplement |doi=10.13130/2039-4942/5765}} and the Levantine corridor.{{Cite journal |last1=Martínez-Navarro |first1=Bienvenido |last2=Rabinovich |first2=Rivka |date=2011-04-01 |title=The fossil Bovidae (Artiodactyla, Mammalia) from Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Israel: Out of Africa during the Early–Middle Pleistocene transition |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0047248410000667 |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |series=Special Issue: Early-Middle Pleistocene palaeoenvironments in the Levant |volume=60 |issue=4 |pages=375–386 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.03.012 |pmid=21392634 |bibcode=2011JHumE..60..375M |issn=0047-2484|url-access=subscription }} Remains assigned to Pelorovis (under P. cf. oldowayensis) have been described from Arabia.{{Citation |last1=Prins |first1=H. H. T. |title=The Evolutionary History of the African Buffalo: Is It Truly a Bovine? |date=2023 |work=Ecology and Management of the African Buffalo |pages=25–48 |editor-last=Caron |editor-first=Alexandre |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/ecology-and-management-of-the-african-buffalo/evolutionary-history-of-the-african-buffalo-is-it-truly-a-bovine/D03B5647BEFD14A59271453741A2A6AB |access-date=2024-12-15 |series=Ecology, Biodiversity and Conservation |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781009006828.005 |isbn=978-1-316-51874-8 |last2=Jong |first2=J. F. de |last3=Geraads |first3=D. |editor2-last=Cornélis |editor2-first=Daniel |editor3-last=Prins |editor3-first=Herbert H. T. |editor4-last=Chardonnet |editor4-first=Philippe}} The holotype of P. turkanensis was recovered from the Koobi Fora Formation in Kenya. The holotype of P. howelli was recovered from the Aïn Hanech Formation of Algeria. Where and when the genus originated is not certain, though premolar characteristics indicate an origin in Africa. Early species, such as the Early Pleistocene P. howelli, were smaller than larger and later ones, such as P. oldowayensis. By the end of the Pleistocene, Pelorovis appears to have been outcompeted by the long-horned buffalo, Syncerus antiquus.

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Category:Prehistoric bovids

Category:Pleistocene Artiodactyla

Category:Holocene extinctions

Category:Extinct mammals of Africa

Category:Pleistocene first appearances

Category:Fossil taxa described in 1851

Category:Pleistocene mammals of Africa

Category:Prehistoric Artiodactyla genera