For the GP2 Series racing team, see Addax Team.

The Addax (Addax nasomaculatus), also known as the screwhorn antelope, is a critically endangered

Critically endangered

Version 2010.3 of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 3744 Critically Endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and subpopulations.Critically Endangered by kingdom:*1993 Animalia*2 Fungi*1745 Plantae*4 Protista-References:...

 species of antelope

Antelope

Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelopes comprise a miscellaneous group within the family Bovidae, encompassing those old-world species that are neither cattle, sheep, buffalo, bison, nor goats...

 that lives in the Sahara

Sahara

The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...

 desert. As suggested by its alternative name, this pale antelope has long, twisted horns. It is closely related to the oryx

Oryx

Oryx is one of four large antelope species of the genus Oryx. Three of the species are native to arid parts of Africa, with a fourth native to the Arabian Peninsula. Their pelage is pale with contrasing dark markings in the face and on the legs, and their long horns are almost straight...

, but differs from other antelopes by having large square teeth like cattle and lacking the typical facial glands. Although extremely rare in its native habitat due to unregulated hunting, it is quite common in captivity. They are sometimes hunted as trophies

Trophy hunting

Trophy hunting is the selective hunting of wild game animals. Although parts of the slain animal may be kept as a hunting trophy or memorial , the carcass itself is sometimes used as food....

 on ranches in the United States.

Description

The Addax stands about 1 metres (3.3 ft) at the shoulder and its weight varies from 60 to 120 kg (132.3 to 264.6 lb). The coloring of their coat varies with the season. In the winter it is greyish brown with white hind quarters and legs. In the summer, the coat turns almost completely white or sandy blonde. Their head is marked with brown or black patches that form an X over their nose. They have a scraggly beard and prominent red nostrils. Long black hairs stick out between their curved and spiraling horns ending in a short mane on the neck. Horn

Horn (anatomy)

A horn is a pointed projection of the skin on the head of various animals, consisting of a covering of horn surrounding a core of living bone. True horns are found mainly among the ruminant artiodactyls, in the families Antilocapridae and Bovidae...

s, found on both male

Male

Male refers to the biological sex of an organism, or part of an organism, which produces small mobile gametes, called spermatozoa. Each spermatozoon can fuse with a larger female gamete or ovum, in the process of fertilization...

s and female

Female

Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces non-mobile ova .- Defining characteristics :The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male...

s, have two to three twists and can reach 80 centimetres (31.5 in) in females and 120 centimetres (47.2 in) in males. Their tail is short and slender, ending in a puff of hair. The hooves

Hoof

A hoof , plural hooves or hoofs , is the tip of a toe of an ungulate mammal, strengthened by a thick horny covering. The hoof consists of a hard or rubbery sole, and a hard wall formed by a thick nail rolled around the tip of the toe. The weight of the animal is normally borne by both the sole...

 are broad with flat soles

Sole (foot)

The sole is the bottom of the foot.In humans the sole of the foot is anatomically referred to as the plantar aspect. The equivalent surface in ungulates is the hoof.- Human sole :...

 and strong dewclaw

Dewclaw

A dewclaw is a vestigial digit on the foot of many mammals, birds, and reptiles . It commonly grows high on the leg so that in digitigrade species, when the animal is standing, it does not make contact with the ground...

s to help them walk on soft sand.

Behavior and habitat

Addax live in desert terrain where they eat grass, and leaves of what shrub and bushes are available. They are amply suited to live in the deep desert under extreme conditions. Addax can survive without free water almost indefinitely, because they get moisture from their food and dew that condenses on plants. Scientists believe that the addax has a special lining in its stomach that stores water in pouches to use in times of dehydration.

Addax herds contain both males and females and have from two to twenty animals, though they had more in previous times. They will generally stay in one place and only wander widely in search of food. Addax have a strong social structure, probably based on age, and herds are led by the oldest male. Herds are more likely to be found along the northern edge of the tropical rain system during the summer and move north as winter falls. Addax are able to track rainfall and will head for these areas where vegetation is more plentiful. Addax are nocturnal and rest during the day in depressions they dig for themselves.

Their staple diet is the Aristida grasses; perennials which turn green and sprout at the slightest bit of humidity or rain. The addax eat only certain parts of the plant and tend to crop the Aristida grasses neatly to the same height. By contrast, when feeding on Parnicum grass, the drier outer leaves are left alone while they eat the tender inner shoots and seeds. These seeds are important part of the addax's diet, being their main source of protein.

Conservation

In ancient times, addax occurred from Northern Africa through Arabia and the Levant

Levant

The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...

. Pictures from Egyptian tombs

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

 show them being kept as domesticated animals in around 2500 BC. More recently, addax were found from Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

 to Sudan

Sudan

Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

, but due mainly to overhunting, they have become much more restricted and rare. In the same region the Dama Gazelle

Dama Gazelle

The Dama Gazelle is a species of gazelle. It lives in Africa in the Sahara desert and migrates south in search of food during the dry season. Their habitat includes open steppes, bushy, grassy steppes, semi-desert, and deserts, while their diet includes grasses, leaves, shoots, fruit, and...

 and the Scimitar-Horned Oryx share a similar fate, with the latter even being presumed extinct in the wild.

In Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, the Yotvata Hai-Bar Nature Reserve

Yotvata Hai-Bar Nature Reserve

The Yotvata Hai-Bar Nature Reserve is a breeding and reacclimation center administered by the Israel Nature Reserves & National Parks Authority, situated in the Southern Arabah near Yotvata....

breeds Addaxes in order to restore them to the wild.

External links

• ARKive - images and movies of the addax (Addax nasomaculatus)