Oryx (redirected from Arabian oryxes)

oryx (ôr`ĭks), name for several small, horselike antelopes, genus Oryx, found in deserts and arid scrublands of Africa and Arabia. They feed on grasses and scrub and can go without water for long periods. Oryxes are light in color with dark patches on the face and legs. They have slight shoulder humps, tufted tails, and straight or slightly curved slender horns that point backward. The common oryx (O. gazella) ranges from S Africa along the east coast to Tanzania. It is beige with black or brown markings. The variety found in the southern part of this range has extremely long horns and is known as the gemsbok; a large male gemsbok stands more than 4 ft (120 cm) at the shoulder and weighs up to 450 lb (200 kg). The E African variety is smaller, with shorter horns, and is called the beisa. The white, or scimitar-horned, oryx (O. tao) of the N African deserts has long, back-curved horns; it is nearly white with chestnut markings. The Arabian, or Beatrix, oryx (O. leucoryx) is the smallest oryx, standing up to 40 in. (100 cm) high. It is white with dark brown and black markings. The Arabian oryxes once ranged over the deserts of SW Asia and were hunted by nomads for flesh and hides. However, they have been nearly exterminated in the 20th cent. by hunting from automobiles. A small population survives in Oman, and a number are breeding successfully in zoos. The oryx is classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Artiodactyla, family Bovidae.

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oryx

Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx)

(credit: Rod Moon—The National Audubon Society Collection/Photo Researchers)

Any of four species (genus Oryx) of large stocky antelopes living in herds on African and Arabian deserts and plains. Oryxes are 40–47 in. (102–120 cm) high. They have a mane and a tufted tail. The coat is grayish brown, whitish, or white, depending on the species, with dark patches on the face and forehead, a dark streak on either side of the eye, and various dark markings on the body and legs. Both sexes have long, sharp-tipped, straight or curved horns.

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oryx

any large African antelope of the genus Oryx, typically having long straight nearly upright horns

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Oryx 

a genus of artiodactyls of the subfamily Hippotraginae. Oryxes are 120 to 140 cm tall at the withers and weigh up to 200 kg. They are handsome, long-legged animals. Both males and females have straight or arcuate horns, which are round in cross section. The long horns, sometimes measuring more than 1 m, terminate in sharp points and are used for defensive purposes. The coloration is generally light grayish brown, with striking dark markings.

There are four species of oryxes, distributed in the Sahara, eastern and southern Africa, and the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula. The animals live in small groups and feed on desert grasses and shrubs. Hunted intensively, some species have almost been exterminated in some regions.

REFERENCE

Zhizn’zhivotnykh, vol. 6. Moscow, 1971.