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| - The gigantelope is a group of huge antelopes that filled the niche of rhinos, hippos, elephants, and horses from Dougal Dixon' s 1981 book After Man: A Zoology of the Future .
- The proboscideans flourished throughout the first half of the Cenozoic, but with humankind's appearance their numbers fell until they had almost become extinct. A few genera only, such as Elephas and Loxodonta, were latterly contemporaries of Once the massive body of the gigantelope had been established a number of variations appeared. The earliest was the long-necked gigantelope, Grandidorcas roeselmivi.
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| abstract
| - The gigantelope is a group of huge antelopes that filled the niche of rhinos, hippos, elephants, and horses from Dougal Dixon' s 1981 book After Man: A Zoology of the Future .
- The proboscideans flourished throughout the first half of the Cenozoic, but with humankind's appearance their numbers fell until they had almost become extinct. A few genera only, such as Elephas and Loxodonta, were latterly contemporaries of humans and both of these died out shortly before humanity's disappearance, leaving no descendants. The ecological niche which they vacated was eventually filled by the descendants of a surviving group of antelopes, the gigantelopes. These enormous creatures with short legs and weighing up to ten tonnes became the giant herbivores of the tropical plains, a group of animals feeding on trees, grasses or roots depending on the species. They had long since abandoned the antelope's running gait and had instead taken up a plodding existence - the two-toed feet of their ancestors having become broad-hooved pads. The animal's basic shape was highly successful and in the course of time the gigantelopes spread northwards from tropical Africa, crossing the Himalayan Uplands in two separate waves of migration; one spreading into the coniferous forests and giving rise to the hornheads, and the other, much later, reaching the tundra and providing the ancestors of the woolly gigantelope, Megalodorcas borealis. Once the massive body of the gigantelope had been established a number of variations appeared. The earliest was the long-necked gigantelope, Grandidorcas roeselmivi.
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