White-bearded wildebeest photo © Muhammad Mahdi Karim
Prof. Mumblebard claims: “Various subspecies of wildebeests, such as these in East Africa, vary in minor details of colouration that show little more than genetic drift.”
Figure 1. Western white-bearded wildebeest (Connochaetes mearnsi), Ngorongoro [photo by D. Gordon E. Robertson]
Figure 2. Zebra (Equus quagga) and Gnu (Connochaetes) on the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania [photo by Jerry Holechek]
Robin and the Honey Badger respond: “All wildebeests use sheen and anti-sheen to make themselves conspicuous, facilitating their gregariousness. However, two species of white-bearded wildebeest have diverged in the balance between sheen and anti-sheen. One, occurring east of the Great African Rift, appears pale overall because the dark surfaces are reduced to mere accentuations. The other, occurring west of the Rift, appears dark overall, the sheen of the rump being reduced to accentuation rather than a major surface. This categorical distinction, so obscure close-up that the two species were not even seen as different subspecies for many years, becomes obvious at a distance. Divergent appearances allow two species to maintain reproductive discrimination despite long migrations which must have brought them together at times.”
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