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Living during the pleistocene, syncerus antiquus is considered an ancestors of the modern African buffalo (Syncerus caffer)
It holds the distinction of being the largest bovid described from Africa. (1)

Description and biology
According to explorer Auguste Pomel, who was able to examine numerous fossils. Its horns may have reached 3 metres, or, almost 10 feet in length. The height around the shoulders was massive. Around 1.85 metres, or 6.1 ft. It was a little less in the rear. (2)

Average weight was about 1,200 kilograms (2,600 lb)
Though the largest males could have been 4400lb (2000kg).

One of the defining features. The horns resembled those of the wild water buffalo (bubalus arnee)

Etymology
The species name is from greek. Sun, together with keras, the horn of an animal.

Distribution
This buffalo had the broadest geographic distribution of any recently extinct species of African bovid. It was found in savannas, open woodlands, and possibly lightly forested regions. It was widespread throughout eastern, southern and northern Africa. Though, due to its large horns, size and weight. It was likely that syncerus antiquus was limited to wide-open areas, with fewer trees and vegetation.

Isotopic and mesowear evidence indicate grazing. It consumed large quantities of forage (2)
Contributing to maintenance of the grassland ecosystems. As a large herbivore, it would have been an important part of the region. It ate grasses and possibly other vegetation.

It had to be careful though. They served as prey for predators, such as lions and hyenas.

Rock art from north Africa suggests this species survived into the holocene. And, ‘sun horn’ fossils have been found in holocene deposits.

The species is important for understanding the history of pleistocene Africa. And, the evolutionary history of the African buffalo
Studying it helps piece together climate change; and animal and vegetation populations. Over thousands of years.

Rock art indicates fighting and living in heards. And, that they were hunted with spears, possible by some of the first berber peoples (3)

Due to a combination of factors the species faced extinction
Including climatic changes, human hunting pressures, and some combination of the two. (4)

Syncerus antiquus was a significantly large herbivore during the pleistocene of Africa. It is closely related to the modern African buffalo. And, provides important insights into history, and the continent’s prehistoric ecosystems.

Cite: 1) Faith, J. Tyler (2014). “Late Pleistocene and Holocene mammal extinctions on continental Africa” (https://www.scienc edirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S001282521300175X). Earth-Science Reviews. 128: 105–121. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2013.10.009 (https://doi.org/10.1016% 2Fj.earscirev.2013.10.009).

2) Codron, D. (2008). “The evolution of ecological specialization in southern African ungulates: competition or physical environmental turnover”. Oikos. 117 (3): 334–353. doi:10.1111/j.2007.0030-1299.16387.x (https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.2007.0030-1299.16387.x).

3) Camps, Gabriel (1992). “Bubalus antiquus” (http://journals.ope nedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/1875). In Camps, Gabriel (ed.). Encyclopédie Berbère (in French). Aix-en-Provence: Edisud. pp. 1642–1647. doi:10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.1875 (https://doi.org/10.400 0%2Fencyclopedieberbere.1875). Archived (https://web.archiv e.org/web/20200718185339/http://journals.openedition.org/enc yclopedieberbere/1875) from the original on 18 July 2020.

4) Klein, Richard G. (November 1994). “The Long-Horned African Buffalo (Pelorovis antiquus) is an Extinct Species” (https://doi.org/10.1006%2Fjasc.1994.1072). Journal of Archaeological Science. 21 (6): 725–733. doi:10.1006/jasc.1994.1072 (https://doi.org/10.1006%2Fjasc.1994.1072).

Bibliography: Maglio, Vincent J.; Cooke, H. B. S., eds. (1978). Evolution of African Mammals. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. pp. 540–572. doi:10.4159/harvard.9780674431263 (https://doi.org/10.4159%2Fharvard.9780674431263.ISBN) 9780674431256

Donald R. Prothero (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Prehistoric Mammals (https://books.google.com/books?id=tWiYDwAAQBAJ). Princeton University Press. p. 184. ISBN 9780691156828

Klein, R.G. (1980). “Environmental and ecological implications of large mammals from Upper Pleistocene and Holocene sites in southern Africa”. Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 81: 223–283. doi:10.1016/0033-5894(91)90019-2 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2F0033-5894%2891%2990019-2). S2CID 59359208 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:59359208)

Gautier, A.; Muzzolini, A. (1991). “The life and times of the giant buffalo alias Bubalus/Homoioceras/Pelorovis antiquus in North Africa”. Archaeozoologia. 4: 39–92.