The East African oryx (''Oryx beisa''), also known as the beisa
is a species of
antelope
The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia.
Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals ...
from
East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historical ...
. It has two
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
: the
common beisa oryx
The common beisa oryx (''Oryx beisa beisa''), also known as the beisa oryx, is the nominate subspecies of the East African oryx native to the Horn of Africa and Kenya. It is closely related to the fringe-eared oryx.
There are four species of ory ...
(''Oryx beisa beisa'') found in
steppe
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the temperate grasslands, ...
and semidesert throughout the
Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...
and north of the
Tana River, and the
fringe-eared oryx
The fringe-eared oryx (''Oryx callotis'' or ''Oryx beisa callotis''), is a large species or subspecies of oryx antelope native to east Africa.
It was originally described as a distinct species by Oldfield Thomas in 1892, but was subsequentl ...
(''Oryx beisa callotis'') south of the Tana River in southern
Kenya
)
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, ...
and parts of
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
. In the past, some
taxonomists
In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given ...
considered it a subspecies of the
gemsbok
The gemsbok or South African oryx (''Oryx gazella'') is a large antelope in the genus ''Oryx''. It is native to the extremely dry, arid regions of Southern Africa; notably, the Kalahari Desert. Some authorities formerly classified the East Afric ...
(''Oryx gazella''), but they are genetically distinct; the
diploid chromosome count is 56 for the beisa and 58 for the gemsbok.
The species is listed as Endangered by the IUCN.
Description
The East African oryx stands just over a metre at the shoulder and
weighs around . It has a grey coat with a white underside, separated from the grey by a stripe of black, with black stripes where the head attaches to the neck, along the nose, and from the eye to the mouth and on the forehead. The mane is small and chestnut-coloured; the ringed horns are thin and straight. They are found on both sexes and typically measure . Comparably, the gemsbok has an entirely black tail, a black patch at the base of the tail, and more black on the legs (including a patch on the hindlegs) and lower flanks. The smaller
Arabian oryx
The Arabian oryx (''Oryx leucoryx'') or white oryx is a medium-sized antelope with a distinct shoulder bump, long, straight horns, and a tufted tail. It is a bovid, and the smallest member of the genus ''Oryx'', native to desert and steppe areas o ...
is overall whiter with largely dark legs.
Behaviour
East African oryx live in semidesert and steppes, where they eat
grass
Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...
es,
leaves
A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...
,
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
and
bud
In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be spec ...
s. They are able to store water by raising their body temperatures (so as to avoid
perspiration
Perspiration, also known as sweating, is the production of fluids secreted by the sweat glands in the skin of mammals.
Two types of sweat glands can be found in humans: eccrine glands and apocrine glands. The eccrine sweat glands are distrib ...
). They gather in herds of five to 40 animals, often with females moving at the front and a large male guarding from the rear. Some older males are solitary. Radio tracking studies show the solitary males are often accompanied for brief periods by breeding-condition females, so it is probable they are executing a strategy to maximise their chances of reproduction.
Gallery
File:Beisa, Tsawo-Wes, Tanzanië.jpg, Fringe-eared oryx (''O. b. callotis'')
File:Flickr - Rainbirder - Beisa Oryx (Oryx beisa).jpg, Common beisa oryx (''O. b. beisa'')
File:The book of antelopes (1894) Oryx beisa.png, Illustration
File:Přímorožec beisa zoo praha 1.jpg, In captivity
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q792143
East African oryx
The East African oryx (''Oryx beisa''), also known as the beisa is a species of antelope from East Africa. It has two subspecies: the common beisa oryx (''Oryx beisa beisa'') found in steppe and semidesert throughout the Horn of Africa and north ...
Mammals of Ethiopia
Mammals of Djibouti
Mammals of South Sudan
Mammals of Tanzania
Mammals of Kenya
Mammals of Somalia
Fauna of East Africa
East African oryx
The East African oryx (''Oryx beisa''), also known as the beisa is a species of antelope from East Africa. It has two subspecies: the common beisa oryx (''Oryx beisa beisa'') found in steppe and semidesert throughout the Horn of Africa and north ...