Dibatag

Dibatag
Related Category: Vertebrate Zoology
see antelope.
More on Dibatag
Antelope - name applied to a large number of hoofed, ruminant mammals of the cattle family which also includes the sheep and goats.

Dibatag, Clarke's gazelle
Taxonomy Ammodorcas clarkei [Thomas, 1891]. Citation: Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 6, 7:304. Type locality: Somalia, Habergerhagi's Country, Buroa Wells.

Dibatag is from dabu (Somali) tail and tag (Somali) erect, a reference to the position of the tail in flight. Ammos (Greek) sand, a sandy place; dorkas (Greek) a gazelle: a reference to its desert-like habitat. The first specimen was obtained by T.W.

The dibatag or Clarke's gazelle (Ammodorcas clarkei), of Somaliland, forms a kind of connecting link between the true gazelles and the gerenuk, this being especially shown in the skull.

Perhaps two of the oddest-looking antelope are the gerenuk Litocranius walleri and the dibatag Ammodorcas clarkei, both of which have slender bodies, long thin legs, and very long necks.

See also: Gazelle, Gerenuk, Antelope, Sheep, Reedbuck