''Oryx'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

consisting of four large antelope species called oryxes. Their

pelage Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket ...

is pale with contrasting dark markings in the face and on the legs, and their long horns are almost straight. The exception is the

scimitar oryx The scimitar oryx (''Oryx dammah''), also known as the scimitar-horned oryx and the Sahara oryx, is a ''Oryx'' species that was once widespread across North Africa. In 2000, it was declared extinct in the wild on the IUCN Red List. A captive b ...

, which lacks dark markings on the legs, only has faint dark markings on the head, has an ochre neck, and has horns that are clearly decurved. The

Arabian oryx The Arabian oryx (''Oryx leucoryx'') or white oryx is a medium-sized antelope with a distinct shoulder bump, long, straight horns, and a tufted tail. It is a bovid, and the smallest member of the genus ''Oryx'', native to desert and steppe areas o ...

was only saved from extinction through a captive-breeding program and reintroduction to the wild. The scimitar oryx, which is now listed as extinct in the wild, also relies on a captive-breeding program for its survival.Database entry includes justification for why this species is listed as extinct in the wild.

Etymology

The term "oryx" comes from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

word ὄρυξ, ''óryx'', for a type of antelope. The Greek plural form is ''óryges'', although "oryxes" has been established in English.

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...

mentions a type of gazelle in Libya called ὄρυς, ''orus'', probably related to the verb ὀρύσσω, ''orussō'', or ὀρύττω, ''oruttō'', meaning "to dig". White oryxes are known to dig holes in the sand.

Species

Arabian oryx

The

(''Oryx leucoryx'', Arabic: المها), became extinct in the wild in 1972 in the Arabian Peninsula. It was

reintroduced Species reintroduction is the deliberate release of a species into the wild, from captivity or other areas where the organism is capable of survival. The goal of species reintroduction is to establish a healthy, genetically diverse, self-sustainin ...

in 1982 in

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

, but

poaching Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...

has reduced its numbers there. One of the largest populations of Arabian oryxes exists on

Sir Bani Yas Ṣīr Banī Yās ( ar, صِير بَنِي يَاس) is a natural island located southwest of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. It lies offshore from Jebel Dhanna, which serves as a crossing point to other islands such as D ...

Island in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

. Additional populations have been reintroduced in

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

, Palestine,

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

, and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. As of 2011, the total wild population is over 1,000, and 6,000–7,000 are being held in captivity. In 2011, the IUCN downgraded its threat category from extinct in the wild to vulnerable, the first species to have changed back in this way.

Scimitar oryx

The

, also called the scimitar-horned oryx (''Oryx dammah''), of

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, is now listed as possibly extinct in the wild. Unconfirmed surviving populations have been reported in central

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesChad, and a semiwild population currently inhabiting a fenced nature reserve in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

is being expanded for reintroduction to the wild in that country. Several thousand are held in captivity around the world.

East African oryx and gemsbok

The East African oryx (''Oryx beisa'') inhabits

eastern Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historica ...

and the closely related gemsbok (''Oryx gazella'') inhabits

southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...

. The gemsbok is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

and the East African oryx has two subspecies; the common beisa oryx (''O. b. beisa'') and the fringe-eared oryx (''O. b. callotis''). In the past, both were considered subspecies of the gemsbok. The East African oryx is an endangered species, whereas the gemsbok is not. Gemsbok were introduced in New Mexico by the Department of Game and Fish in the late 1960s and early 1970s as an experiment in offering a unique hunting opportunity to New Mexico residents. Between 1969 and 1973, 93 oryx were released onto White Sands Missile Range. White Sands Missile Range, located between the cities of Albuquerque, NM and El Paso, TX, is a 3,200 square mile US Army facility which also hosts White Sands National Park. The first atomic bomb was test detonated at Trinity Site near the northern boundary of the range. The gemsbok released onto the range quickly began to reproduce. Researchers believed that the population would never grow beyond 500 to 600 and would remain within the Tularosa Basin. However, the animals proved to be extremely opportunistic, and quickly spread into the San Andres Mountains to the north and west of Tularosa Basin. At one time, numbers of Oryx in New Mexico were estimated to be around 6,000 (original release numbers were less than 100). Today, numbers have been held around the 2,000 mark through managed hunting efforts. The success of the oryx in New Mexico is due in part to the abundance of food. In Africa, they eat grasses, forbs, and melons. Here, they feed on desert grasses, yucca, buffalo gourds, and mesquite bean pods. They are especially adapted to desert life and can go a long time without drinking water. This area also lacks a way to control the population. Lions and other natural predators cull the population in Africa, with only 10% of calves reaching one year of age. In New Mexico, predators like coyotes and mountain lions are not effective at controlling numbers, allowing the oryx to reproduce without restriction. File:The book of antelopes (1894) Oryx beatrix.png, '' Oryx leucoryx'' File:The book of antelopes (1894) Oryx leucoryx.png, '' ''Oryx dammah'''' is the only oryx with clearly curved horns, an ochre neck, and no dark markings on the legs. File:The book of antelopes (1894) Oryx beisa.png, ''

Oryx beisa The East African oryx (''Oryx beisa''), also known as the beisa is a species of antelope from East Africa. It has two subspecies: the common beisa oryx (''Oryx beisa beisa'') found in steppe and semidesert throughout the Horn of Africa and ...

'' resembles the closely related ''O. gazella'', but the latter has an entirely black tail and more black to the legs and lower flanks. File:The book of antelopes (1894) Oryx gazella.png, '' Oryx gazella''

Classification

* Family Bovidae ** Subfamily Hippotraginae *** Genus ''Oryx'' ****

Scimitar oryx The scimitar oryx (''Oryx dammah''), also known as the scimitar-horned oryx and the Sahara oryx, is a ''Oryx'' species that was once widespread across North Africa. In 2000, it was declared extinct in the wild on the IUCN Red List. A captive b ...

, ''O. dammah'' **** Gemsbok, ''O. gazella'' **** East African oryx, ''O. beisa'' (formerly in ''O. gazella'') ***** Common beisa oryx, ''O. b. beisa'' ***** Fringe-eared oryx, ''O. b. callotis'' ****

, ''O. leucoryx''

Ecology

All oryx species prefer near-desert conditions and can survive without water for long periods. They live in herds of up to 600 animals. Newborn calves are able to run with the herd immediately after birth. Both males and females possess permanent horns. The horns are narrow and straight except in the scimitar oryx, where they curve backwards like a

scimitar A scimitar ( or ) is a single-edged sword with a convex curved blade associated with Middle Eastern, South Asian, or North African cultures. A European term, ''scimitar'' does not refer to one specific sword type, but an assortment of different ...

. The horns can be lethal: oryxes has been known to kill lions with them, and they are thus sometimes called sabre antelopes (not to be confused with the

sable antelope The sable antelope (''Hippotragus niger'') is an antelope which inhabits wooded savanna in East and Southern Africa, from the south of Kenya to South Africa, with a separate population in Angola. Taxonomy The sable antelope shares the genus ''Hi ...

). The horns also make the animals a prized game trophy, which has led to the near-extinction of the two northern species.

As an introduced species

Between 1969 and 1977, the

New Mexico Department of Game and Fish The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF) is a state-level government department within the New Mexico Governor's Cabinet that is responsible for maintaining wildlife and fish in the state. The NMDGF undertakes protection, conservation and ...

in the US intentionally released 95 gemsbok into its state's

White Sands Missile Range White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) is a United States Army military testing area and firing range located in the US state of New Mexico. The range was originally established as the White Sands Proving Ground on 9July 1945. White Sands National P ...

and that population is now estimated between 3,000 and 6,000 animals.State of New Mexico
NM-PDF-Oryx
Within the state of New Mexico, oryxes are classified as " big game" and can be hunted.

Oryxes in popular culture

The oryx is the national animal of Namibia, the

State of Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

, and the company

Qatar Airways Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. ( ar, القطرية, ''al-Qaṭariya''), operating as Qatar Airways, is the state-owned flag carrier airline of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke netwo ...

has an oryx as its logo. The main boss of the MMO game ''

Realm of the Mad God ''Realm of the Mad God '' is a massively multiplayer online shooter video game co-created by Wild Shadow Studios and currently owned and developed by DECA Games. It was in public beta from January 2010 and the browser version launched on June 2 ...

'' is Oryx the Mad God, named after the creator of the original sprite sheets, Oryx. His four direct subordinates also bear the names of four South African species of oryx. Oryxes appear briefly, along with many other species of animal, in the

Talk Talk Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981, led by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drums), and Paul Webb (bass). The group achieved early chart success with the synth-pop singles " Talk Talk" (1982), " It's My Life", and " ...

music video '' It's My Life''. In the video game ''

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege'' is an online tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on December 1, 2015; the game was ...

'', a playable defending operator nicknamed Oryx was introduced in Year 5 Season 1. His ability is called "Remah Dash," where he can charge to break holes in walls and knock down enemies. Oryx is a nickname for a character in Margaret Atwood's book '' Oryx and Crake'' Oryx is also the main antagonist’s name in the video game '' Destiny: The Taken King'', a god who seeks vengeance on the player, known as a Guardian, after they killed his son Crota. He is killed by the player in the raid “King’s Fall”. He is portrayed as “Oryx, the Taken King”.

References

External links

Oryx: Wildlife summary from the African Wildlife Foundation
{{Authority control Grazing antelopes Mammals of Africa Mammal genera Taxa named by Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville