Goitered gazelle explained

The goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa) or black-tailed gazelle is a gazelle native to Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran, parts of Iraq and Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and in northwestern China and Mongolia. The specific name, meaning "full below the throat", refers to the male having an enlargement of the neck and throat during the mating season.

Distribution and habitat

The goitered gazelle inhabits sands and gravel plains and limestone plateau.Large herds were also present in the Near East. Some 6,000 years ago, they were captured and killed with the help of desert kites.[1] Rock art found in Jordan suggests that it was slaughtered ritually.[2]

Behaviour and ecology

Its mating behaviour is polygynous and usually occurs in the early winter.[3] It runs at high speed, without the leaping, bounding gait seen in other gazelle species. Throughout much of its range, the goitered gazelle migrates seasonally. Herds cover per day in the winter, with these distances being reduced to about in summer.

Taxonomy

Several subspecies have been described, and four forms are distinguished, which used to be treated as separate monotypic species.[4] Gazella marica was traditionally recognised as a subspecies, but has been identified as a species in 2011.

Former subspecies

Until recently, goitered gazelles were considered to represent a single, albeit polymorphic, species. However, recent genetic studies show one of the subspecies, G. s. marica, is paraphyletic in respect to the other populations of goitered gazelles,[5] [6]

Notes and References

  1. Bar-Oz, G. . amp . Zeder, M. . Hole, F. . 2010 . Role of mass-kill hunting strategies in the extirpation of Persian gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa) in the northern Levant . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 108 . 18 . 7345–7350 . 3088574. 10.1073/pnas.1017647108 . 21502520 . free .
  2. News: Gazelles caught in ancient Syrian 'killing zones' . Amos . J. . 2011 . BBC News . 19 April 2011.
  3. Xia, C. . amp . Liu, W. . Xu, W. . Yang, W. . Xu, F. . Blank, D. . 2014 . The energy-maintenance strategy of goitered gazelles Gazella subgutturosa during rut . Behavioural Processes . 103 . 5–8 . 10.1016/j.beproc.2013.10.009 . 24220795 . 12173688 .
  4. Book: Groves, C.P. . amp . Leslie, D.M. Jr. . 2011 . Handbook of the Mammals of the World . Lynx Edicions . Family Bovidae (Hollow-horned Ruminants) . 585–588 . Wilson, D.E. . Mittermeier, R.A. . ((Volume 2: Hooved Mammals)) . 978-84-96553-77-4.
  5. Wacher, T. . amp . Wronski, T. . Hammond, R.L. . Winney, B. . Blacket, M.J. . Hundertmark, K.J. . Mohammed, O.B. . Omer, S.A. . Macasero, W. . Lerp, H. . Plath, M. . Bleidor, C. . 2011 . Phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences reveals polyphyly in the goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa) although gene introgression is observed in the contact zone between the two species . Conservation Genetics . 12 . 827–831 . 10.1007/s10592-010-0169-6 . 40678328 . 17 February 2019 . 9 January 2012 . https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20120109190352/http://users.iab.uaf.edu/~kris_hundertmark/Reprints/Wacher%20et%20al%202011.pdf . dead .
  6. Murtskhvaladze, M. . amp . Gurielidze, Z. . Kopaliani, N. . Tarkhnishvili, D. . 2012 . Gene introgression between Gazella subguturrosa and G. marica: limitations of maternal inheritance analysis for species identification with conservation purposes . Acta Theriologica . 12 . 4 . 827–831 . 10.1007/s13364-012-0079-8 . 17324903 .

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