Thomson's gazelle (''Eudorcas thomsonii'') is one of the best known species of

gazelle A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . There are also seven species included in two further genera; '' Eudorcas'' and '' Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third former subgenus, ' ...

s. It is named after explorer Joseph Thomson and is sometimes referred to as a "tommie". It is considered by some to be a subspecies of the

red-fronted gazelle The red-fronted gazelle (''Eudorcas rufifrons'') is widely but unevenly distributed gazelle across the middle of Africa from Senegal to northeastern Ethiopia. It is mainly resident in the Sahel zone, a narrow cross-Africa band south of the Sahar ...

and was formerly considered a member of the genus ''Gazella'' within the subgenus ''Eudorcas'', before ''Eudorcas'' was elevated to genus status. Thomson's gazelles can be found in numbers exceeding 200,000 in Africa and are recognized as the most common type of gazelle in East Africa. A small fast

antelope The term antelope refers to numerous extant or recently extinct species of the ruminant artiodactyl family Bovidae that are indigenous to most of Africa, India, the Middle East, Central Asia, and a small area of Eastern Europe. Antelopes do ...

, the Thomson's gazelle is said to have top speeds up to . It is the fourth-fastest land animal, after the

cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large Felidae, cat and the Fastest animals, fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, wit ...

(its main predator), pronghorn, and

springbok The springbok or springbuck (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is an antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus (biology), genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first Species description, described by the Germa ...

Taxonomy and etymology

The current

scientific name In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

of Thomson's gazelle is ''Eudorcas thomsonii''. It is a member of the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

'' Eudorcas'' and is classified under the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Bovidae The Bovidae comprise the family (biology), biological family of cloven-hoofed, ruminant mammals that includes Bos, cattle, bison, Bubalina, buffalo, antelopes (including Caprinae, goat-antelopes), Ovis, sheep and Capra (genus), goats. A member o ...

. Thomson's gazelle was first described by British zoologist

Albert Günther Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther , also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther (3October 18301February 1914), was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. Günther is ranked the second-most productive reptile tax ...

in 1884. The relationships between Thomson's gazelle and the

congeneric Congener may refer to: * Congener (biology), organisms within the same genus * Congener (chemistry), related chemicals, e.g., elements in the same group of the periodic table * Congener (beverages), a substance other than ethanol produced during t ...

Mongalla gazelle (''E. albonotata'') remain disputed; while some authors such as Alan W. Gentry of the (

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (Lo ...

) consider the Mongalla gazelle to be a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of Thomson's gazelle, others (such as Colin Groves) consider the Mongalla gazelle to be a full species. Zoologist Jonathan Kingdon treated Heuglin's gazelle, sometimes considered a species of ''Eudorcas'' (''E. tilonura'') or a subspecies of the red-fronted gazelle (''E. r. tilonura''), as a subspecies of Thomson's gazelle. Thomson's gazelle is named after the Scottish explorer Joseph Thomson; the first recorded use of the name dates to 1897. Another common name for the gazelle is "tommy". '' Antilope'', '' Eudorcas'', '' Gazella'', and '' Nanger'' form a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

within their

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

Antilopini Antilopini is a tribe (taxonomy), tribe of bovids often referred as true Antelope, antelopes like gazelles. They live in and around the Saharan Desert, Sahara, Horn of Africa, throughout East Africa, eastern and southern Africa, and Eurasia , wit ...

. A 1999

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

analysis showed that ''Antilope'' is the closest sister taxon to ''Gazella'', although the earliest phylogeny, proposed in 1976, placed ''Antilope'' as sister to ''Nanger''. In a more recent revision of the phylogeny of the Antilopini on the basis of

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

and

mitochondria A mitochondrion () is an organelle found in the cells of most eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is us ...

l data in 2013, Eva Verena Bärmann (of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

) and colleagues constructed a cladogram that clearly depicted the close relationship between ''Nanger'' and ''Eudorcas''. ''Antilope'' and ''Gazella'' were found to have a similar relationship. Two subspecies are identified: *''E. t. nasalis'' ( Lönnberg, 1908) – Serengeti Thomson's gazelle ranges from the

Serengeti The Serengeti ( ) ecosystem is a geographical region in Africa, spanning the Mara and Arusha Regions of Tanzania. The protected area within the region includes approximately of land, including the Serengeti National Park and several game r ...

to the Kenya Rift Valley. *''E. t. thomsonii'' (Günther, 1884) – eastern Thomson's gazelle ranges from east of the Rift Valley in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

, southward to Arusha District (Tanzania) and then southwestward to Lake Eyasi, Wembere River, and Shinyanga.

Description

Gazella thomsonii Thomsons Gazelle in Tanzania 3446 cropped Nevit

Thomson's gazelle is a relatively small gazelle; it stands at the shoulder. Males weigh , while the slightly lighter females weigh . Facial characteristics of the gazelle include white rings around the eyes, black stripes running from a corner of the eye to the nose,

rufous Rufous () is a color that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish- red, as of rust or oxidised iron. The first recorded use of ''rufous'' as a color name in English was in 1782. However, the color is also recorded earlier in 1527 as a d ...

stripes running from the horns to the nose, a dark patch on the nose, and a light forehead. Serengeti Thomson-Gazelle3

The

coat A coat is typically an outer garment for the upper body, worn by any gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front, and closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners (AKA velcro), ...

is sandy brown to rufous; a black band runs across the flanks, from the upper foreleg to just above the upper hind leg. A buff band occurs above the black stripe. Short, black streaks mark the white rump. The black tail measures . Males have well-developed

preorbital gland The preorbital gland is a paired exocrine gland found in many species of artiodactyls, which is homologous to the lacrimal gland found in humans. These glands are trenchlike slits of dark blue to black, nearly bare skin extending from the media ...

s near the eyes, which are used for

scent-marking In ethology, territory is the sociographical area that an animal consistently defends against conspecificity, conspecific competition (biology), competition (or, occasionally, against animals of other species) using agonistic behaviors or (less ...

territories. Both sexes possess horns that curve slightly backward with the tips facing forward. The horns, highly ringed, measure in males and in females. However, females have more fragile horns; some are even hornless.

Grant's gazelle Grant's gazelle (''Nanger granti'') is a relatively large species of gazelle antelope, distributed from northern Tanzania to South Sudan and Ethiopia, and from the Kenyan coast to Lake Victoria. Its Swahili name is ''swala granti''. It was named ...

is very similar to Thomson's gazelle, but can be differentiated by its larger size and the white patch on the rump extending top over the tail. The two subspecies differ in their appearance. The eastern Thomson's gazelle is the larger of the two, with fainter facial markings. The Serengeti Thomson's gazelle has a whiter face with more conspicuous markings. The horns of females are shorter than those of males to a greater degree in the eastern Thomson's gazelle and the horns are more divergent in the eastern Thomson gazelle.

Ecology

Thomson's gazelle lives in East Africa's savannas and grassland habitats, particularly the Serengeti region of Kenya and Tanzania. It has narrow habitat preferences, preferring short grassland with dry, sturdy foundation. It does, however, migrate into tall grassland and dense woodland. Gazelles are mixed feeders. In the wet seasons, they eat mainly fresh grasses, but during the dry seasons, they eat more browse, particularly foliage from woody plants bushes and herbaceous

forb A forb or phorb is a herbaceous flowering plant that is not a graminoid (grass, sedge, or rush). The term is used in botany and in vegetation ecology especially in relation to grasslands and understory. Typically, these are eudicots without woo ...

Thomson's gazelles are dependent on short grass. Their numbers can be highly concentrated at the beginning of the rains when the grass grows quickly. In the Serengeti, they follow the larger herbivores, such as

plains zebra The plains zebra (''Equus quagga'', formerly ''Equus burchellii'') is the most common and geographically widespread species of zebra. Its range is fragmented, but spans much of southern and eastern Africa south of the Sahara. Six or seven subspec ...

s and

blue wildebeest The blue wildebeest (''Connochaetes taurinus''), also called the common wildebeest, white-bearded gnu or brindled gnu, is a large antelope and one of the two species of wildebeest. It is placed in the genus ''Connochaetes'' and Family (biology), ...

s as they mow down the taller grasses. In the wild, Thomson's gazelles can live 10–15 years. Their major predators are

s, which are able to attain higher speeds, but gazelles can outlast them in long chases and are able to make turns more quickly. This small antelope can run extremely fast, up to , and zigzag, an adaptation which often saves it from predators. Sometimes, they are also taken by

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

s, African wild dogs,

hyena Hyenas or hyaenas ( ; from Ancient Greek , ) are feliform carnivoran mammals belonging to the family Hyaenidae (). With just four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the order Carnivora and one of the sma ...

Nile crocodile The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the eastern, southern, and ce ...

s and African rock pythons, and their fawns are sometimes the prey of

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

jackal Jackals are Canidae, canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe Canina (subtribe), canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-b ...

s, and

baboon Baboons are primates comprising the biology, genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys, in the family Cercopithecidae. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow ba ...

s. A noticeable behaviour of Thomson's gazelles is their bounding leap, known as

stotting Stotting (also called pronking or pronging) is a behavior of quadrupeds, particularly gazelles, in which they spring into the air, lifting all four feet off the ground simultaneously. Usually, the legs are held in a relatively stiff position. Ma ...

or pronking, used to startle predators and display strength.

Social behavior

During the wet season, a time when grass is abundant, adult male gazelles graze extensively. They spread out more and establish breeding territories. Younger males usually spend their time in bachelor groups, and are prevented from entering the territories. Females form migratory groups that enter the males' territories, mostly the ones with the highest-quality resources. As the female groups pass through and forage, the territorial males may try to herd them, and are usually successful in preventing single females from leaving, but not whole groups. Subadult males usually establish dominance through actual combat, while adults are more likely to do rituals.Estes, R. (1991). ''The Behavior Guide to African Mammals, Including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores, Primates.'' Los Angeles, The University of California Press. pgs. 70-75 If a bachelor male should be passing through a territorial male's region, the male will chase the offender out of his territory. When patrolling his territory, a male may use his horns to gore the grass, soil, or a bush.Walther, Fritz (1995). In the Country of Gazelles, Chapter 1; "Short-tail and Roman", pp. 1-37. Indiana University Press. Males also mark grass stems with their preorbital glands, which emit a dark secretion. Territories of different males may share a boundary. When territorial males meet at the border of their territories, they engage in mock fights in which they rush towards each other as if they are about to clash, but without touching. After this, they graze in a frontal position, then in parallel and then in reverse, and move away from each other while constantly grazing. These rituals have no victor, but merely maintain the boundaries of the territories. Territorial males usually do not enter another male's territory. If a male is chasing an escaping female, he will stop the chase if she runs into another territory, but the neighboring male will continue the chase.

Reproduction and parental care

A male gazelle follows a female and sniffs her urine to find out if she is in estrus, a process known as the Flehmen response. If so, he continues to court and mount her. Females leave the herd to give birth to single fawns after a five- to six-month gestation period. Breeding takes place year-round, with a peak in births around January/February, and in some populations a second peak around June/July. Newborn fawns weigh . They give birth twice yearly with one or two fawns.Kingdon, J. (1979). ''East African Mammals: An Atlas of Evolution in Africa, Volume 3, Part. D: Bovids''. University Chicago Press, Chicago pgs. 403–413. When giving birth, a female gazelle crouches as the newborn fawn drops to the ground, tearing the umbilical cord.Walther, Fritz (1995). ''In the Country of Gazelles'', Chapter 6: "On mothers and their young", pp. 94-113. Indiana University Press. The mother then licks the fawn clean of amniotic fluid and tissues. In addition, licking possibly also serves to stimulate the fawn's blood circulation, or to "label" it so its mother can recognize it by scent. In the first six hours of the fawn's life, it moves and rests with its mother, but eventually spends more time away from its mother or hides in the grass. The mother stays in the vicinity of the fawn and returns to nurse it daily. Mother and fawn may spend an hour together before the fawn goes and lies back down to wait for the next nursing. Mother gazelles may associate with other gazelle mothers, but the fawns do not gather into "kindergartens". Mothers defend their young against jackals and baboons, but not against larger predators. Sometimes, a female can fend off a male baboon by headbutting him with her horns to defend her fawn. Females exhibit pre-retrieval peaks in maternal vigilance. This behavior is conspicuous. Females all but cease other activities in favor of vigilance. They move slowly in the direction of the fawn's hiding spot, stopping frequently to scan the environment. Several females in our observations engaged in "sham" feeding behavior, in which they lowered their heads to the ground as if to feed before quickly raising them back up to scan. In one instance, a female appeared to actively search for predators by climbing to the top of a slight hill to scan prior to approaching her fawn's hiding spot. As the fawn approaches two months of age, it spends more time with its mother and less time hiding. Eventually, it stops hiding. Around this time, the fawn starts eating solid food, but continues to nurse from its mother. The pair also joins a herd. Young female gazelles may associate with their mothers as yearlings. Young males may also follow their mothers, but as they reach adolescence, they are noticed by territorial males, so cannot follow their mothers into territories. The mother may follow and stay with him, but eventually stops following him when he is driven away; the male will then join a bachelor group.

Physiological adaptations

In an experiment studying the effects of dehydration and heat stress on food intake and dry matter digestibility, Thomson's gazelle exhibited metabolic adaptations for desert environments. When exposed to heat stress alone, neither the food intake nor digestion of Thomson's gazelle was affected. Compared to some other East African ruminant species that did change their food intake and digestion in response to heat stress, Thomson's gazelle appears relatively well-adapted to periodic heat stress. However, Thomson's gazelle is a water-dependent species, and when exposed to dehydration, its food intake decreased. Food intake was further depressed when gazelles were exposed to dehydration in addition to heat stress. Some of this reduction can be attributed to decreased metabolism, which can help the animals conserve water. In another study comparing Thomson's gazelles and Grant's gazelles in foraging and behaviors to avoid predators, it was found that Thomson's gazelle adjusted its diet during drought to eat more trees and shrubs of

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

species rather than undigestible dried grasses. Acacia species are high in tannins, anti-nutritional factors that can decrease metabolic performance. However, gazelles appear to have the ability to detoxify and metabolize some tannins and moderate levels of condensed tannins may even be beneficial to ruminants by increasing amino acid absorption in the gut.

Status

The population estimate is around 550,000. The population had declined 60% from 1978 to 2005. Threats to Thomson's gazelles are habitat modification, fire management, and road development. Surveys have reported steep declines (60-70%) over periods of about 20 years dating from the late 1970s in several places, including the main strongholds for the species: Serengeti, Masai Mara, and Ngorongoro.

Cultural references

References to the Thomson's gazelle were an occasional running gag in ''

Monty Python's Flying Circus ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (also known as simply ''Monty Python'') is a British surreal humour, surreal sketch comedy series created by and starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam, w ...

''. The 2016

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

film '' Zootopia'' features an anthropomorphic Thomson's gazelle pop star, voiced by

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer-songwriter. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Music", she has had a Cultural impact of Shakira, significant impact on the ...

. The Thomson's gazelle served as the inspiration for

Alexander McQueen Lee Alexander McQueen (17 March 1969 – 11 February 2010) was a British fashion designer and couturier. He founded his own Alexander McQueen (brand), Alexander McQueen label in 1992 and was chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. His ac ...

's 1997 Autumn/Winter collection, ''It's a Jungle Out There''.