Another spelling or variant plural of hartebeest antelopes, sometimes used as an alternative to 'bubalis.'
From 'bubal' (an archaic name for certain African antelopes), possibly from Arabic or African language origins. The term is less commonly used in modern scientific work than 'bubalis.'
The bubal antelope disappeared completely in the wild by 1923—it's one of the only recent mammal extinctions we know about with confidence, and it serves as a grim reminder that large animals that once roamed Africa in massive herds can vanish forever within a century.
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