Gemsbok | |
---|---|
Male gemsbok in Etosha National Park, Namibia | |
Gemsboks mock fighting at Leeudril, Nossob River, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Northern Cape, South Africa | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Family: | Bovidae |
Subfamily: | Hippotraginae |
Genus: | Oryx |
Species: | O. gazella
|
Binomial name | |
Oryx gazella | |
The natural range of the gemsbok[3] | |
Synonyms | |
Capra gazella Linnaeus, 1758 |
The gemsbok (Oryx gazella), or South African oryx, is a large antelope in the genus Oryx. It is endemic to the dry and barren regions of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and (parts of) Zimbabwe, mainly inhabiting the Kalahari and Namib Deserts, areas in which it is supremely adapted for survival. Previously, some sources classified the related East African oryx, or beisa oryx (Oryx beisa), as a subspecies.