Günther's dik-dik (''Madoqua guentheri'') is a small

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 ...

found in arid zones of

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 ...

Description

Günther's dik-dik is one of the smallest

ungulates Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Ungulata which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. These include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraffes, cam ...

in Africa, weighing when fully grown. It has a yellowish-gray to reddish-brown coat, black hooves, small heads with long necks and large ears with white insides. Belly, chin, breast, throat and inner thighs are cream or white. The tail is short (~3–5 cm). Males are horned, with horn length (~9.8 cm) varying between individuals. Although the horn cores are only present in males, gender identification can be difficult from a distance. Females are larger and lack horns. Four subspecies have been proposed based on size and pelage features, but have not yet been analyzed genetically.

Distribution and habitat

The species is found in the lowlands of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

, most of the northern and eastern regions of

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

excluding specific regions of the coast, limited regions of southeastern

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

, and northeastern

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in 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*) territor ...

. They avoid coastal regions. Typical habitat includes low thicket-type vegetation in thornbush, savanna grassland and riverine woodland biomes, and extends to disturbed and overgrazed areas. Habitat overlaps with other small antelope species such as

Kirk's dik-dik Kirk's dik-dik (''Madoqua kirkii'') is a small antelope native to Eastern Africa and one of four species of dik-dik antelope. It is believed to have six subspecies and possibly a seventh existing in southwest Africa. Dik-diks are herbivores, typi ...

Ecology

Günther's dik-dik is a browser rather than a grazer, feeding mainly on the leaves, flowers, stems, fruits and seeds of non-grasses. The species feeds on plants close to the ground, due to its small stature. It is primarily diurnal, with activity peaks from dawn until mid-morning and mid-afternoon until after dark. The species is

monogamous Monogamy ( ) is a form of Dyad (sociology), dyadic Intimate relationship, relationship in which an individual has only one Significant other, partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (Monogamy#Serial monogamy, ...

; parents and calves do not form family groups for prolonged periods, and the calf is driven out at an early age to fend for itself. Only a single calf is born at a time. The species does not breed seasonally and can have late gestation periods. While it has a limited vocal repertoire, the species has been shown to make use of the alarm calls of other species, for example responding with increased vigilance or flight behaviour to the alarm calls of the

white-bellied go-away-bird The white-bellied go-away-bird (''Crinifer leucogaster'') is a bird of eastern Africa in the family Musophagidae, commonly known as turacos. Taxonomy German naturalist Eduard Rüppell described this species in 1842. The white-bellied go-away- ...

Conservation

The species is classified as

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

, as it appears to be common throughout its range. Total population size is estimated as at least 500,000 individuals. It is hunted for meat, but not commercially.

Habituation Habituation is a form of non-associative learning in which an innate (non-reinforced) response to a stimulus decreases after repeated or prolonged presentations of that stimulus. Responses that habituate include those that involve the intact org ...

to human presence may have a negative fitness effect on individuals, but this has not yet been verified.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q922114

Günther's dik-dik Günther's dik-dik (''Madoqua guentheri'') is a small antelope found in arid zones of East Africa. Description Günther's dik-dik is one of the smallest ungulates in Africa, weighing when fully grown. It has a yellowish-gray to reddish-brown co ...

Mammals of Ethiopia Mammals of Uganda Mammals of Kenya Mammals of Somalia Mammals of South Sudan Fauna of the Horn of Africa