Scimitar oryx, known as the scimitar-horned oryx and the Sahara oryx, is a Oryx species that was once widespread across North Africa.
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11 Facts About Scimitar-horned oryx
2.
Scimitar Scimitar-horned oryx has a long taxonomic history since its scientific description in 1816 by Lorenz Oken, who named it Oryx algazel.
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3.
Decline of the scimitar Scimitar-horned oryx population began as a result of climate change during the Neolithic period, and later it was hunted extensively for its horns.
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4.
Scimitar Scimitar-horned oryx was domesticated in Ancient Egypt and is believed to have been used as food and sacrificed as offerings to gods.
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5.
Scimitar Scimitar-horned oryx was the emblem of the ancient Egyptian Oryx nome and today is the animal symbol of the Sahara Conservation Fund.
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6.
Scimitar Scimitar-horned oryx is a member of the genus Oryx and the family Bovidae.
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7.
Scimitar Scimitar-horned oryx has 58 chromosomes - one pair of large submetacentric autosomes and 27 acrocentric autosomal pairs.
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8.
At Smithsonian National Zoo, a female Scimitar-horned oryx died at 21, an exceptional age since females generally have a lifespan of about 15 years.
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9.
Scimitar Scimitar-horned oryx can be infected with cryptosporidiosis, a parasitic disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Cryptosporidium in the phylum Apicomplexa.
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10.
Scimitar Scimitar-horned oryx was a very sociable animal and traveled in herds of two to 40 individuals, generally, led by a dominant bull.
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11.
Scimitar Scimitar-horned oryx once inhabited grassy steppes, semideserts and deserts in a narrow strip of central north Africa.
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