The Silver Dik-dik is a small 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...

 found in low, dense thickets along the southeastern coast of Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

 and in Acacia

Acacia

Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...

-Commiphora

Commiphora

Commiphora is a genus of flowering plants in the family Burseraceae. It includes about 185 species of trees and shrubs, often armed or thorny, native to Africa, Arabia, and the Indian subcontinent.-Uses:...

bushland in the Shebelle Valley

Shebelle River

The Shebelle River begins in the highlands of Ethiopia, and then flows southeast into Somalia towards Mogadishu. Near Mogadishu, it turns sharply southwest, where it follows the coast. Below Mogadishu, the river becomes seasonal...

 in southeastern Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

. It is the smallest species of dik-dik

Dik-dik

A dik-dik, pronounced "dĭk’ dĭk", is a small antelope in the Genus Madoqua that lives in the bushes of eastern and southern Africa. Dik-diks stand 30–40 cm at the shoulder, are 50–70 cm long, weigh 3–6 kg and can live for up to 10 years...

 with a length of 45–50 cm (17.7–19.7 in), a height of 30–33 cm (11.8–13 in) and a weight of 2–3 kg (4.4–6.6 lb). Its back and flanks are grizzled silvery, while the limbs, ears and muzzle are ochraceus in colour. Little is known about its status, but numbers are believed to be decreasing.

Together with the closely related Salt's Dik-dik

Salt's Dik-dik

Salt's Dik-dik is a small antelope found in semi-desert vegetation, bushland and thickets in the Horn of Africa, but marginally also northern Kenya and eastern Sudan.- Description :...

, this species forms the subgenus Madoqua in the genus Madoqua (other dik-dik

Dik-dik

A dik-dik, pronounced "dĭk’ dĭk", is a small antelope in the Genus Madoqua that lives in the bushes of eastern and southern Africa. Dik-diks stand 30–40 cm at the shoulder, are 50–70 cm long, weigh 3–6 kg and can live for up to 10 years...

s are also in the genus Madoqua, but the subsgenus Rhynchotragus). The taxonomy

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...

 of this subgenus is complex and a matter of dispute. Though most recent authorities treat the Silver Dik-dik as a monotypic

Monotypic

In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...

 species, it has been suggested that the Silver Dik-dik should be treated as a subspecies of the Swayne's Dik-dik (itself now usually treated as a subspecies of the Salt's Dik-dik).