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Günther's Dik-dik
Plate 1 of 5. (c) Markus Lilje, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), uploaded by Markus Lilje · via iNaturalist

Günther's Dik-dik

Madoqua guentheri

The Günther's dik-dik (Madoqua guentheri) is a small antelope found in arid zones of East Africa.

Continue reading on Wikipedia

From the article Günther's dik-dik on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section

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Description

Günther's dik-dik is one of the smallest ungulates, weighing 3–5 kilograms (6.6–11.0 lb) when fully grown. It has a yellowish-gray to reddish-brown coat, black hooves, small heads with long necks and large ears with white insides. Belly, chin, breast, throat and inner thighs are cream or white. The tail is short (~3–5 cm). Males are horned, with horn length (~9.8 cm) varying between individuals. Although the horn cores are only present in males, gender identification can be difficult from a distance. Females are larger and lack horns. Four subspecies have been proposed based on size and pelage features, but have not yet been analyzed genetically.

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Range & habitat

The species is found in the lowlands of Ethiopia, most of the northern and eastern regions of Kenya, Somalia excluding specific regions of the coast, limited regions of southeastern Sudan, and northeastern Uganda. They avoid coastal regions. Typical habitat includes low thicket-type vegetation in thornbush, savanna grassland and riverine woodland biomes, and extends to disturbed and overgrazed areas. Habitat overlaps with other small antelope species such as Kirk's dik-dik.

Wikipedia: “Distribution and habitat”

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What it does

Günther's dik-dik is a browser rather than a grazer, feeding mainly on the leaves, flowers, stems, fruits and seeds of non-grasses. The species feeds on plants close to the ground, due to its small stature. It is primarily diurnal, with activity peaks from dawn until mid-morning and mid-afternoon until after dark. The species is monogamous; parents and calves do not form family groups for prolonged periods, and the calf is driven out at an early age to fend for itself. Only a single calf is born at a time. The species does not breed seasonally and can have late gestation periods. While it has a limited vocal repertoire, the species has been shown to make use of the alarm calls of other species, for example responding with increased vigilance or flight behaviour to the alarm calls of the white-bellied go-away-bird.

Wikipedia: “Ecology”

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Where it lives

Recorded sightings

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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.

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Every page naming Madoqua guentheri in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →

This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 42359.