Editing Common eland (section)

==Genetics and evolution==
[[File:San Painting, Ukalamba Drakensberge 1.JPG|thumb|[[San rock art|Rock art]] produced by the [[San people]] depicting an eland, [[Clarens Formation]], South Africa]]
Male elands have 31 [[diploid]] chromosomes and females have 32. The male (Y) chromosome has been [[Chromosomal translocation|translocated]] to the [[Acrocentric|short arm]] of an [[autosome]].<ref name = Pappas/> Both the [[X chromosome]] and [[Y chromosome]] [[Replication (statistics)|replicate]] late; they do not match well and are variable. The chromosomes resemble those of the [[greater kudu]] (''Tragelaphus strepsiceros'').<ref name=taxo>{{cite book | last = Groves | first = CP |author2=Grubb P | title = Ungulate Taxonomy | year = 2011 | publisher = [[Johns Hopkins University Press]] | location = Maryland | isbn = 978-1-4214-0093-8 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=v3uZtA1ZpTAC&pg=PA142 142] | chapter = Artiodactyla }}</ref>

Male elands and female [[greater kudu]]s can produce a viable male [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]], though whether it is [[Sterility (physiology)|sterile]] is unknown. An accidental crossing of an East African common eland (''T. o. {{proper name|pattersonianus}}''') with an East African kudu (''T. s. bea'') occurred in the [[San Diego Zoo Safari Park]]. This was believed to be due to the absence of male kudus in the herd. The hybrid produced was sterile. The study confirmed the chromosome numbers of both the eland and the kudu and the strangeness of their attached Y chromosomes. Attempt matings of male elands with [[cattle|domestic]] (''Bos primigenius'') and [[zebu]] cows (''Bos indicus'') indicated the species are not able to interbreed.<ref name=jorge>{{cite journal|last=Jorge|first=W.|author2=Butler, S. |author3=Benirschke, K. |title=Studies on a male eland x kudu hybrid|journal=Reproduction|date=1 January 1976|volume=46|issue=1|pages=13–16|doi=10.1530/jrf.0.0460013|pmid=944778|doi-access=free}}</ref> Female elands have acted as [[surrogacy|surrogates]] for [[Bongo (antelope)|bongos]].<ref name = Pappas/>

The Bovidae family ancestors of the common eland arose approximately 20 million years ago in Africa; [[fossil]]s are found throughout Africa and France, but the best records are in sub-Saharan Africa. The first members of the [[tribe (biology)|tribe]] Tragelaphini appear six million years ago during the [[late Miocene]]. An extinct ancestor of the common eland (''Taurotragus arkelli'') appears in the [[Pleistocene]] in northern [[Tanzania]] and the first ''T. oryx'' fossil appears in the [[Holocene]] in [[Algeria]].<ref name = Pappas/>

In 2010, a genetic study was made basing on the evolutionary history of common elands. Using material from East and Southern Africa, analysis of mitochondrial DNA control-region fragments from 122 individuals revealed information concerning the phylogeography, genetic diversity, and demographic history of the species. The conclusions supported the presence of a long-standing population in the southern Africa and a mosaic of Pleistocene refugia in eastern Africa. The similarity of dates obtained from other studies indicates a significant genetic event around 200 ka.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Lorenzen|first=Eline D.|author2=Masembe, Charles |author3=Arctander, Peter |author4= Siegismund, Hans R. |title=A long-standing Pleistocene refugium in southern Africa and a mosaic of refugia in East Africa: insights from mtDNA and the common eland antelope|journal=Journal of Biogeography|date=1 March 2010|volume=37|issue=3|pages=571–581|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2699.2009.02207.x|s2cid=85986567 }}</ref>