The wildebeests, also called gnus or wildebai, are a genus of antelopes, Connochaetes. They belong to the family Bovidae, which includes antelopes, <br />cattle, goats, sheep and other even-toed horned ungulates. Connochaetes includes two species, both native to Africa: the black wildebeest, <br />or white-tailed gnu (C. gnou); and the blue wildebeest, or brindled gnu (C. taurinus). Fossil records suggest these two species diverged about one <br />million years ago, resulting in a northern and a southern species. The blue wildebeest remained in its original range and changed very little from <br />the ancestral species, while the black wildebeest changed more in order to adapt to its open grassland habitat in the south. <br />The most obvious way of telling the two species apart are the differences in their colouring and in the way their horns are oriented.
