Editing Common tsessebe (section)

==Description==
[[File:Tsessebe (Damaliscus lunatus lunatus) close-up (11684009833).jpg|thumb|The close-up at the [[Kruger National Park]], South Africa]]

Adult tsessebe are 150 to 230&nbsp;cm in length.<ref name=Kingdon>{{cite book|last=Kingdon|first=J|title=The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals|publisher=Academic Press|location=San Diego, CA|pages=428–431|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sjPCCAAAQBAJ&q=%22tsessebe%22|isbn=9781472921352|date=2015-04-23}}</ref> They are quite large animals, with males weighing 137&nbsp;kg and females weighing 120&nbsp;kg, on average.<ref name="Intensity of Sexual Selection">{{cite journal|last=Bro-Jorgensen|first=J|title=The Intensity of Sexual Selection Predicts Weapon Size in Male Bovids |journal=Evolution |year=2007 |volume=61 |issue=6 |pages=1316–1326 |doi=10.1111/j.1558-5646.2007.00111.x|pmid=17542842|s2cid=24278541|doi-access= }}</ref> Their horns range from 37&nbsp;cm for females to 40&nbsp;cm for males. For males, horn size plays an important role in territory defense and mate attraction, although horn size is not positively correlated with territorial factors of mate selection.<ref name="Intensity of Sexual Selection" /> Their bodies are chestnut brown. The fronts of their faces and their tail tufts are black; the forelimbs and thigh are greyish or bluish-black. Their hindlimbs are brownish-yellow to yellow and their bellies are white.<ref name="Collins Field Guide" />  In the wild, tsessebe usually live a maximum of 15 years, but in some areas, their average lifespan is drastically decreased due to overhunting and the destruction of habitat.<ref name="Collins Field Guide">{{cite book|last=Haltenorth|first=T|title=The Collins Field Guide to the Mammals of African Including Madagascar|year=1980|publisher=The Stephen Greene Press, Inc. |location=New York, NY |pages=81–82}}</ref>

The most significant difference between the tsessebe, the southernmost subspecies, and the other [[Damaliscus lunatus|topi subspecies]] is the incline of the horns, with the tsessebe having horns which are placed further apart from each other as one moves distally. This has the effect of the space between them having a more [[lunate]] profile when seen from a certain angle, as opposed to lyrate, more like that of a [[hartebeest]]. Tsessebe populations show variation as one moves from South Africa to Botswana, with southerly populations having on average the lightest [[pelage]] colour, smallest size and the least robust horns. Common tsessebe do not differ significantly from the [[Bangweulu tsessebe]], the northernmost population, but in general the populations from that part of [[Zambia]] are on average the darkest-coloured and have the most robust horns, although differences are slight and individuals in both populations show variation in these characteristics which almost completely overlap each other.<ref name=Cotterill2003a/>