Blue wildebeest
This species of wildebeest seems to have evolved around 2.5 million years ago. The black wildebeest is believed to have diverged from the blue wildebeest to become a distinct species around a million years ago, in the mid- to late Pleistocene. Fossil evidence suggests that blue wildebeest were quite common in the Cradle of Humankind in the past. Apart from eastern Africa, fossils are commonly found in Elandsfontein, Cornelia, and Florisbad.
Blue wildebeest
In terms of skull length, the smallest subspecies of the blue wildebeest is the western white-bearded wildebeest. It is also the darkest subspecies; the eastern white-bearded wildebeest is the lightest race. Both subspecies possess a creamy white beard, whereas the beard is black in both the Nyassaland wildebeest and the common wildebeest. The longest muzzles are found in the Nyassaland wildebeest, and the shortest in female western white-bearded wildebeest.