Horn-tastic Hijinks

Antilopinae

Hey kids, welcome back to our series on the mysteries of created kinds.

Last week, we met a small kind of bird. This week, we go from birds to mammals and from Africa, central Asia, parts of southern Europe to the Middle East.

Most members of this kind are active during the day, with some adapting their activity to rest during the hottest hours of the day.1^,2 Their habitats vary wildly, from rough terrain in the south of Africa,3 to the Arabian desert,4 to the savannas of Africa, and the steppes (grasslands) of northwestern Asia.5 Many species migrate long distances over the course of a year, depending on the weather and other factors.6 They are herbivores with a varied diet of plants, including shrubs, trees, and grasses.7^,8

This kind are generally social animals, traveling in groups. These groups vary in size from as low as one9 to massive herds estimated above two hundred thousand!10 However, most herds remain smaller, with an average of less than ten.11 Sometimes, these groups are segregated by either age or sex (or both), meaning they hang out in groups of male or female or groups of the same age (kind of like your school grade).12

Many members of this kind are sexually dimorphic (male and female look different), usually showing differences in their horns.13 Members of this kind mate in a variety of ways. Some use lekking behavior, where a male or group of males maintain a central area and females come to them to either mate or reject the males.14 Others establish territories during the mating season and court all females inside the territory.15 Others are monogamous, mating with just one individual and remaining relatively faithful for life.16 Most start reproducing within a year or two of birth, and the young are precocious, meaning they are able to follow their mother around shortly after birth.17

Has anyone figured it out yet? This week’s kind is the Antilopinae—the antelope kind. You have probably heard of them under another name, the gazelles. If you have watched any nature documentaries about Africa, you probably have seen a big cat stalk and chase a gazelle. They are very common in the African savanna. Stay tuned for next week when we go to Laos, looking for a small species of salamander.

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  Arabian Gazelle by Christoph Moning, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist

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  Thomas Fuhrmann, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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  Sand Gazelle by Sameer Shaik, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist

Try out this fun crossword!

Clue

Your clue for the week is:

This kind has just one species and is found only in Laos (see if you can find Laos on a map).

Ask a Question

Have you ever had a question about created kinds but didn’t know who to ask? Have you ever wanted to learn more about your favorite kind? Well, now you can! You can ask me, Inspector Barry Mins, a question! Have your parents help you fill out this form, and you might get your question answered in my column! If you have any questions about created kinds, feel free to send them my way!

Footnotes

1. Nina Giotto, Alain Laurent, Nabil Mohamed, Nicolas Prevot, and Jean-François Gerard, “Observations on the Behaviour and Ecology of a Threatened and Poorly Known Dwarf Antelope: the Beira (Dorcatragus megalotis),” European Journal of Wildlife Research 54 (2008): 539–547, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229180699_Observations_on_the_behaviour_and_ecology_of_a_threatened_and_poorly_known_dwarf_antelope_The_beira_Dorcatragus_megalotis.
2. Afework Bekele and Wondimagegnehu Tekalign, “Diurnal Activity Patterns of Oribi (Ourebia ourebi) in Maze National Park, Ethiopia,” International Journal of Ecology and Ecosolution 2, no. 3 (July 2015): 31–35, Google Scholar.
3. K. L. Tinley, “Dikdik Madoqua kirki in South West Africa: Notes on Distribution, Ecology, and Behaviour,” Madoqua 1 (1969): 7–33, Google Scholar.
4. Eva Verena Bärmann, Saskia Börner, Dirk Erpenbeck, Gertrud Elisabeth Rössner, Christiana Hebel, and Gert Wörheide, “The Curious Case of Gazella arabica,” Mammalian Biology 78, no. 3 (2013): 220–225, Google Scholar.
5. E. J. Milner-Gulland, A. B. Bekenov, and Iu. A. Grachev, “The Ecology and Management of the Saiga Antelope in Kazakhstan,” Mammal Review 28, no. 1 (1998): 1–52, Google Scholar.
6. T. Y. Ito, N. Miura, B. Lhagvasuren, D. Enkhbileg, S. Takatsuki, A. Tsunekawa, and Z. Jiang, “Satellite Tracking of Mongolian Gazelles (Procapra gutturosa) and Habitat Shifts in Their Seasonal Ranges,” Journal of Zoology 269, no. 3 (2006): 291–298, Google Scholar.
7. R. C. Bigalke, “Observations on the Behaviour and Feeding Habits of the Springbok, Antidorcas marsupialis,” Zoologica Africana 7, no. 1 (1972): 333–359, Google Scholar.
8. B.K. Reilly, G. K. Theron, and J. DU. P. Bothma, “Food Preferences of Oribi Ourebia ourebi in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park,” Koedoe 33, no. 1 (1990): 55–61, Google Scholar.
9. Afework Bekele and Wondimagegnehu Tekalign, “Sex Structure and Group Size of Oribi (Ourebia ourebi) in Maze National Park, Ethiopia,” Advances in Life Science and Technology 44 (2016): 87–95, https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/234687357.pdf.
10. Todd K. Fuller, Kirk A. Olson, Thomas Mueller, Sanjaa Bolortsetseg, Peter Leimgruber, and William F. Fagan, “A Mega-Herd of More than 200,000 Mongolian Gazelles Procapra gutturosa: A Consequence of Habitat Quality,” Oryx 43, no. 1 (2009): 149–153, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Todd-Fuller-3/publication/259364215_A_mega-herd_of_more_than_200000_Mongolian_gazelles_Procapra_gutturosa_A_consequence_of_habitat_quality/links/00463536231e2a5b89000000/A-mega-herd-of-more-than-200-000-Mongolian-gazelles-Procapra-gutturosa-A-consequence-of-habitat-quality.pdf.
11. J. H. M. David, “Observations on Social Organization of Springbok, Antidorcas marsupialis, in the Bontebok National Park, Swellendam,” Zoologica Africana 13, no. 1 (1978): 115–122, Google Scholar.
12. David Blank, Weikang Yang, Canjun Xia, and Wenxuan Xu, “Grouping Pattern of the Goitered Gazelle, Gazella subgutturosa (Cetartiodactyla: Bovidae) in Kazakhstan,” Mammalia 76, no. 2 (2012): 149–155, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Wenxuan-Xu-5/publication/271382723_Grouping_pattern_of_the_goitered_gazelle_Gazella_subgutturosa_Cetartiodactyla_Bovidae_in_Kazakhstan/links/5631fc5f08ae13bc6c35cf84/Grouping-pattern-of-the-goitered-gazelle-Gazella-subgutturosa-Cetartiodactyla-Bovidae-in-Kazakhstan.pdf.
13. Torsten Wronski, Mohamed A. Sandouka, Martin Plath, and Peter Cunningham, “Differences in Sexual Dimorphism Among Four Gazelle Taxa (Gazella spp.) in the Middle East,” Animal Biology 60, no. 4 (2010): 395–412, Google Scholar.
14. Kavita Isvaran and Yadavendradev Jhala, “Variation in Lekking Costs in Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra): Relationship to Lek-Territory Location and Female Mating Patterns,” Behaviour 137, no. 5 (2000): 547–563, https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=a26f50ec4012d950e08703f39d2413fb121848a8.
15. David A. Blank, “Mating Behavior of the Persian Gazelle Gazella subgutturosa Güldenstaedt, 1780,” Mammalia 62, no. 4 (1998): 499–519, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David-Blank-5/publication/249943953_Mating_behavior_of_the_Persian_Gazelle_Gazella_subgutturosa_Guldenstaedt_1780/links/004635270ee2c9892e000000/Mating-behavior-of-the-Persian-Gazelle-Gazella-subgutturosa-Gueldenstaedt-1780.pdf>.
16. Peter N. M. Brotherton, Josephine M. Pemberton, Petr E. Komers, and Gavin Malarky, “Genetic and Behavioural Evidence of Monogamy in a Mammal Kirk’s Dik-Dik (Madoqua kirkii)” Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 264, no. 1382 (1997): 675–681, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1688408/pdf/9178540.pdf.
17. Kirk A. Olson, Todd K. Fuller, George B. Schaller, Badamjavin Lhagvasuren, and Daria Odonkhuu, “Reproduction, Neonatal Weights, and First-Year Survival of Mongolian Gazelles (Procapra gutturosa), Journal of the Zoological Society of London 265, no. 3 (2005): 227–233, https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=8587cfad026f8a131b5700de9c67435a9f739079.