Tragoportax

Tragoportax Temporal range: Turolian–Ruscinian 9.0–5.3 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Horns of Tragoportax amalthea
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Bovidae
Subfamily:	Bovinae
Tribe:	†Tragoportacini
Genus:	†Tragoportax Pilgrim, 1937
Type species
Tragoportax salmontanus Pilgrim, 1937
Other species
See text
Synonyms
Synonyms Capra amalthea Roth & Wagner, 1854[1] Tragocerus Gaudry, 1861[2][3] Pontoportax Kretzoi, 1941[3] Gazelloportax Kretzoi, 1941[3]  ?Mirabilocerus Hadjiev, 1961[3] Tragoceridus Kretzoi, 1968[3] Mesembriportax Gentry, 1974[3] Mesotragocerus Korotkevich, 1982[3]

Tragoportax is an extinct genus of bovid ungulate. It lived from the upper Miocene to the earliest Pliocene, and its fossils have been found in southeastern Europe, parts of Africa, and the Indian subcontinent. Tragoportax was formerly considered a close relative of the extant nilgai, though more recent studies suggest that it, and several other Miocene "boselaphins", formed a tribe of their own. The number of Tragoportax species has varied over the years, and some have been reassigned to the related genus Miotragocerus. The first Tragoportax specimens were discovered in Greece, and were originally assigned to Capra. Subsequently, they were reassigned to Tragocerus. This genus name was preoccupied by a beetle, and thus Tragoportax is the correct name.

Like many modern antelopes, Tragoportax exhibited sexual dimorphism. Both sexes were horned, with those of males being longer and slenderer, often curving backwards. The postcrania of the genus resemble those of large deer, such as red deer, and it may have been similar ecologically. Some species, like T. amalthea, inhabited lightly wooded environments, and fed predominantly on leaves. Others, like T. rugosifrons, were probably mixed feeders, feeding on both leaves and grasses. Tragoportax might have been cursorial.