Editing Lesser kudu (section)

==Taxonomy and genetics==
{{cladogram|align=left|title=
|caption=Phylogenetic relationships of the mountain nyala from combined analysis of all molecular data (Willows-Munro et.al. 2005)
|cladogram={{clade | style=font-size:90%;line-height:100%;width:300px;
|1={{clade
|1={{clade |label1=
 |1= {{clade|label1=
           |1=
         {{clade
         |label1=
         |1={{clade
            |1={{clade
                |1={{clade
                   |1=[[Giant eland]]
                   |2=[[Common eland]]}}
                |2={{clade
                   |1=[[Greater kudu]]
                   |2={{clade
                       |1=[[Balbok]]
                       |2={{Clade
                           |1={{clade
                              |1={{clade
                                  |1=[[Bongo (antelope)|Bongo]]
                                  |2=[[Sitatunga]]}}
                           |2={{Clade
                           |1={{clade
                              |1={{clade
                                  |1=[[Cape bushbuck]]
|2=[[Harnessed bushbuck]] }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} 
         |2=[[Nyala]]}}
|2='''Lesser kudu''' }} }} }} }} }} }}

The [[scientific name]] of the lesser kudu is ''Tragelaphus imberbis''. The animal is classified under the genus ''Tragelaphus'' in family Bovidae. It was [[Scientific description|first described]] by the English zoologist [[Edward Blyth]] in 1869.<ref name=MSW3>{{MSW3|id=14200730|page=698}}</ref> The generic name, ''Tragelaphus'', derives from [[Greek language|Greek]] word ''tragos'', meaning a male goat, and ''elaphos'', which means a deer, while the specific name ''imberbis'' comes from the Latin term meaning unbearded, referring to this kudu's lack of mane.<ref>{{MerriamWebsterDictionary|Tragelaphus|access-date=30 January 2016}}</ref> The vernacular name kudu (or koodoo) may have originated from the [[Khoikhoi language|Khoikhoi]] ''kudu'', or via the [[Afrikaans Language|Afrikaans]] ''koedoe''.<ref>{{MerriamWebsterDictionary|Kudu|access-date=30 January 2016}}</ref> The term "lesser" denotes the smaller size of this antelope as compared to the [[greater kudu]].<ref name=kingdon/>

In 1912, the genus ''Ammelaphus'' was established for just the lesser kudu by American zoologist [[Edmund Heller]], the type species being ''A. strepsiceros''.<ref name=heller>{{cite book|first=E.|last=Heller|title=New Genera and Races of African Ungulates|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|location=Washington D. C.|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/pdf3/005508900035814.pdf|page=15|date=November 2, 1912}}</ref> The lesser kudu is now typically placed in ''Tragelaphus''.<ref name=MSW3/> However, a 2011 publication by [[Colin Groves]] and [[Peter Grubb (zoologist)|Peter Grubb]] argues for the lesser kudu's renewed placement in the genus ''Ammelaphus'' on the grounds that this species is part of the earliest-diverging lineage of its tribe, having split from the main lineage before it separated into ''Tragelaphus'' and ''Taurotragus''.<ref name="Groves2011">{{cite book |last1=Groves |first1=C. |author1-link=Colin Groves |last2=Grubb |first2=P. |author2-link=Peter Grubb (zoologist) |title=Ungulate Taxonomy |date=2011 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore, US |isbn=978-1-4214-0093-8 |pages=139}}</ref>

In 2005, Sandi Willows-Munro (of the [[University of KwaZulu-Natal]]) and colleagues carried out a [[mitochondria]]l analysis of the nine ''Tragelaphus'' species. [[mtDNA]] and [[nDNA]] data were compared. The results showed that the tribe Tragelaphini is [[monophyletic]] with the lesser kudu [[Basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] in the phylogeny, followed by the [[nyala]] (''T. angasii'').<ref name=cladogram>{{cite journal|last1=Willows-Munro|first1=S.|last2=Robinson|first2=T. J.|last3=Matthee|first3=C. A.|title=Utility of nuclear DNA intron markers at lower taxonomic levels: Phylogenetic resolution among nine ''Tragelaphus'' spp.|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|date=June 2005|volume=35|issue=3|pages=624–36|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2005.01.018|pmid=15878131|bibcode=2005MolPE..35..624W }}</ref><ref name="groves2014">{{cite journal|last1=Groves|first1=C.|title=Current taxonomy and diversity of crown ruminants above the species level|journal=Zitteliana|date=2014|volume=32|issue=B|pages=5–14|url=http://www.palmuc.de/bspg/images/pdf/zitteliana32/1_groves.pdf|issn=1612-4138|access-date=2016-01-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204110133/http://www.palmuc.de/bspg/images/pdf/zitteliana32/1_groves.pdf|archive-date=2016-02-04|url-status=dead}}</ref> On the basis of mitochondrial data,  the lesser kudu separated from its [[sister clade]] around 13.7 million years ago. However, the nuclear data show that lesser kudu and nyala form a clade, and collectively separated from the sister clade 13.8 million years ago.<ref name="ropiquet">{{cite journal|last1=Ropiquet|first1=A.|title=Etude des radiations adaptatives au sein des Antilopinae (Mammalia, Bovidae)|journal=Ph.D. Thesis, Université Paris|date=2006|volume=6|issue=1–247}}</ref><ref name="hassanin">{{cite journal|last1=Hassanin|first1=A.|last2=Delsuc|first2=F.|last3=Ropiquet|first3=A.|last4=Hammer|first4=C.|last5=Jansen van Vuuren|first5=B.|last6=Matthee|first6=C.|last7=Ruiz-Garcia|first7=M.|last8=Catzeflis|first8=F.|last9=Areskoug|first9=V.|last10=Nguyen|first10=T.T.|last11=Couloux|first11=A.|title=Pattern and timing of diversification of Cetartiodactyla (Mammalia, Laurasiatheria), as revealed by a comprehensive analysis of mitochondrial genomes|journal=Comptes Rendus Biologies|date=2012|volume=335|issue=1|pages=32–50|doi=10.1016/j.crvi.2011.11.002|pmid=22226162|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The lesser kudu has 38 [[Diploidy|diploid]] [[chromosome]]s. However, unlike others in the [[Subfamily (biology)|subfamily]] Tragelaphinae, the [[X chromosome]] and [[Y chromosome]] are compound and each is fused with one of two identical [[autosome]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Benirschke|first1=K.|last2=Ruedi|first2=D.|last3=Muller|first3=H.|last4=Kumamoto|first4=A.T.|last5=Wagner|first5=K.L.|last6=Downes|first6=H.S.|title=The unusual karyotype of the lesser kudu,''Tragelaphus imberbis''|journal=Cytogenetic and Genome Research|date=1980|volume=26|issue=2–4|pages=85–92|doi=10.1159/000131429|pmid=7389415}}</ref>