Oryx

From Free net encyclopedia

For the helicopter, see Atlas Oryx.

{{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Oryxes | image = Gemsbok-Beijing zoo.JPG | image_width = 250px | image_caption = Oryx gazella | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Mammalia | ordo = Artiodactyla | familia = Bovidae | subfamilia = Hippotraginae | genus = Oryx | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = Oryx beisa
Oryx dammah
Oryx gazella
Oryx leucoryx }} An Oryx is one of three or four large antelope species of the genus Oryx, typically having long straight nearly upright horns. Three of the species are found in Africa with a fourth in Arabia. Small populations exist in Texas and New Mexico, USA. A Governor in the 1940s imported some for his exotic hunting tastes and they have flourished since.

Some taxonomists describe Oryx beisa as a subspecies of Oryx gazella. The Arabian oryx, the smallest species became extinct in the wild in 1972 from the Arabian Peninsula. It was reintroduced in 1982 in Oman but poaching has had negative effects on the species. Subsequent reintroduction programmes have placed the number of Arabian oryx in the wild at around 250. About 600 more are in captivity. The oryx dammah is now extinct from the wild in Africa, however.

Newborn calves can run with the herd immediately after birth. Both males and females have permanent, narrow, straight horns. These horns are quite dangerous, and the oryx has been known to kill lions with them.

The Oryx, when seen from the side, appears to have only one single horn which leads to speculations that it is probably the animal initially mistaken for Unicorn myths.

FAMILY BOVIDAE
- Subfamily Hippotraginae
  - Genus Hippotragus
  - Genus Oryx
    - East African Oryx, Oryx beisa
    - Scimitar Oryx, Oryx dammah
    - Gemsbok, Oryx gazella
    - Arabian Oryx, Oryx leucoryx
  - Genus Addax