The roan antelope, Hippotragus equinus, is a member of the horse-like antelope tribe Hippotragini (híppos means horse in Greek). One of the largest antelope species, the roan antelope may weigh as much as 300 kg and can be as tall as 160 cm in height at the shoulders, similar to the height of an average horse [1]. Their vernacular name comes from their reddish-brown (roan) coats but roan antelopes also have a striking white and black facial markings that set them apart from other species. The size of the roan antelope, their curved horns along with an aggressive temperament when threatened make them quite formidable opponents to their predators [2].
Today, we release the chromosome-length assembly for the roan antelope, Hippotragus equinus. This assembly is a Hi-C upgrade for the draft genome assembly generated by Gonçalves et al., (2021). Please visit our Methods page for more details on the assembly procedure, and check out the interactive Juicebox.js map below for the Hi-C contact map of the 30 chromosomes of the roan antelope!
Interested in more antelope species? Check out the assembly pages for the sable antelope (Hippotragus niger), Scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah), and the Eastern bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus isaaci). Subscribe to our mailing list below or follow us on Twitter (@thednazoo) to keep up to date with our newest releases coming in 2022!