Queen of Sheba's gazelle
| Queen of Sheba's gazelle | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Bovidae |
| Subfamily: | Antilopinae |
| Tribe: | Antilopini |
| Genus: | Gazella |
| Species: | †G. bilkis
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| Binomial name | |
| †Gazella bilkis Groves & Lay, 1985
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The Queen of Sheba's gazelle or Yemen gazelle (Gazella bilkis) is an extinct species of gazelle. It was sometimes regarded as a subspecies of the Arabian gazelle, which itself was once considered extinct but eventually turned out to be the southern relative ("Erlanger's gazelle") of the Levantine mountain gazelle. The Queen of Sheba's gazelle was found on the mountains and hillsides in Yemen, but none have been sighted since 1951, when five specimens were collected in mountains near Ta'izz, where it was reportedly common at the time.[1]
Surveys in the area of their former occurrence have failed to find any sign of its presence.[2] In 1985, a photograph of gazelles was taken in a private collection, Al Wabra Wildlife Farm, in Qatar. Zoologist Colin Groves claims these could possibly be surviving Queen of Sheba's gazelles.[3] It is not confirmed whether these animals truly belong to this species.
The cause of extinction – or whether it is indeed extinct, instead of being the same as the Arabian/Erlanger's gazelle, whiose range in Yemen is not well known but may be restricted to the north – and is still uncertain. In absence of detailed molecular phylogenetic studies, the Ta'izz population of gazelles was most likely either the southernmost subpopulation of the Arabian gazelle (and thus not an extinct species), or the isolated southernmmost member of the mountain gazelle species complex (or even some other gazelle ineage), in which case it would indeed be an extinct species or (most likely as Gazella arabica bilkis) subspecies. As of 2023, Ta'izz is a frontline city, precluding field research in the area.
References
- ^ a b IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group (2016). "Gazella bilkis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T8987A50188129. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T8987A50188129.en. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
- ^ Mallon, D.P. and Al-Safadi, M. 2001.Yemen. In: D.P. Mallon and S.C. Kingswood (compilers). 2001. Antelopes. Part 4: North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Global Survey and Regional Action Plans, pp. 63-68. IUCN, Gland.
- ^ Research in Arabia, 1987 and 1992: visits to King Khalid and National Wildlife Research Centres (Saudi Arabia), Al Wabra Wildlife Farm (Qatar), Al-Areen Wildlife Park and Reserve (Bahrain) and Al Ain Zoo (United Arab Emirates). Downloaded on 29 December 2006 from "Fichier HTML". Archived from the original on October 16, 2006. Retrieved December 29, 2006.
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