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Gemsbok are the largest species in the genus Oryx. They stand about 1.2 m (4 ft) at the shoulder. [7] [8] The body length can vary from 190 to 240 cm (75 to 94 in) and the tail measures 45 to 90 cm (18 to 35 in). [9] Male gemsbok can weigh between 180 and 240 kg (400 and 530 lb), while females weigh 100–210 kg (220–460 lb).
Six bovid species (clockwise from top left): addax, cattle, mountain gazelle, impala, blue wildebeest, and mouflon Bovidae is a family of hoofed ruminant mammals in the order Artiodactyla.
Outgrowths of the frontal bone characterize most forehead weapons carriers, such as the gemsbok and its horns. Four families of even-toed ungulates have cranial appendages. These Pecora (with the exception of the musk deer ), have one of four types of cranial appendages: true horns, antlers , ossicones , or pronghorns .
The hollow horn has tone holes down the front, like a recorder or clarinet. The pointed end of the horn is left intact, and serves as the bottom of the instrument. A fipple plug, usually of wood, is fitted into the wide end of the instrument, with a recorder type voicing window on the front of the horn, for tone production.
The body is brown with a lighter-coloured saddle on the back and the rump an even lighter shade. The legs are brown, with a white patch behind the top part of the front legs. Lower legs whitish. Both sexes carry horns, ringed almost to the tip. Female horns are slightly more slender. The neck and the top of the back of the blesbok are brown.
Males grow slender, lyre-shaped horns 45–92 cm (18–36 in) long. [17] The horns, strongly ridged and divergent, are circular in section and hollow at the base. Their arch-like structure allows interlocking of horns, which helps a male throw off his opponent during fights; horns also protect the skull from damage.
The grey rhebok is a medium-sized antelope weighing 19–30 kilograms (42–66 lb) with a long neck and narrow ears. The coat is short and dense and coloured in various shades of grey. Only the males carry horns, which are straight, sharp, ringed at the base, and around 15–25 centimetres (5.9–9.8 in) long. [2]
The most obvious ways of telling the two species apart are the differences in their colouring and in the way their horns are oriented. [ 8 ] In East Africa , the blue wildebeest is the most abundant big-game species ; some populations perform an annual migration to new grazing grounds, but the black wildebeest is merely nomadic.