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 ORDER ARTIODACTYLA : EVEN-TOED UNGULATES 693 



Arabian Oryx 



ORYX LEUCORYX (Pallas) 



Antilopc leucoryx Pallas, Spicil. Zool., fasc, 12, p. 17, 1777. ("Arabiae & forte 

 Lybiae proprium animal"; type locality restricted by Sclater and Thomas 

 (1899, vol. 4, p. 52) to "Southern Arabia, to the shores of the Persian 

 Gulf.") 



SYNONYMS: Oryx beatrix Gray (1857); Oryx leucoryx latipes Pocock (1934). 



FIGS.: Schreber, Saugthiere, pi. 256 B, 1784; Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1857, 

 Mamm., pi. 55; Sclater and Thomas, 1899-1900, vol. 4, pi. 82; Lydekker, 

 1901, pi. 2, fig. 12; Carruthers, 1915, pi. 11; Hamilton, 1918, pi. facing 

 p. 283; Carruthers, 1935, pis. 28, 31, 32; Ward, 1935, p. 211, fig.; Pocock, 

 1937, p. 666, fig.; Leister, 1938, p. 88, fig. 



This is a rare and "fast-diminishing species" (Cheesman, 1926, 

 p. 367). 



Height of adult male at shoulder, 40 inches; a distinct hump on 

 the back; general color chiefly pure white; legs dark chocolate 

 brown, sometimes nearly black, with white pasterns ; a fawn-colored 

 stripe on each flank, sometimes almost lacking; black areas in front 

 of horns, between eyes and nostrils, and on cheeks; tail white, tuft 

 black. Horns nearly straight, annulated; record length 29 inches in 

 female, shorter in male. (Carruthers, 1935, pp. 182-184.) 



This species once ranged over various parts of the Arabian Penin- 

 sula, north to the Syrian Desert and Mesopotamia. 



Tristram (1884, p. 5) refers to it as "common in North Arabia, 

 and found in the Belka and Hauran. Its horns may be purchased 

 at Damascus. I have been near enough to identify it by its long 

 horns." On the other hand, Carruthers remarks (1935, p. 164) : 

 "It is very doubtful whether the oryx ever extended its range as far 

 as the Belga and Hauran." 



Lydekker and Elaine (1914, vol. 3, p. 131) record specimens from 

 the head of the Persian Gulf, from Adam, Oman, and from the 

 Mesopotamian Desert. 



Carruthers (1915, pp. 30-32) gives the following account: 



[This species was] unknown until quite recently, except for native report 

 and "traded" specimens .... 



In days gone by, no doubt, the oryx antelope ranged the deserts bordering 

 Moab and Edom, but they are now restricted to the inner deserts of Arabia 

 .... The natural range of the oryx might be best described as extending 

 around the main sand areas of Arabia. That is to say, the great sand deserts, 

 such as the Nafud in the north-west and the Roba-el-Khali in the south, 

 are probably their true refuge, beyond which they roam as far as pastures 

 and native hunters allow them. The sand belts are the pasture zones par 

 excellence in Arabia. In its southern habitat the oryx is unknown (except 

 for one specimen . . . from Oman . . . and live specimens at Aden, said to 

 have been brought from the southern Nafud) ; it probably inhabits the country 

 inside the coastal belt of mountains, from the Yemen highlands to Oman. 

 In Northern Arabia, and along the Persian Gulf, it is not found, but around 



