Mammal

Arabian Oryx

Area: 
Oman and Jordan
Habitat: 
Desert and semidesert, steppe, and savanna
Food: 
Grasses, herbs, fruit, roots, and melons
Size: 
3 to 4 feet tall, approximately 300 pounds
Babies: 
A newborn calf stands and walks an hour after being born.
Oryx have an unusual circulation system in their heads to cool their blood. This is very helpful when you live in the desert!
DesertAn area with little rain and often with hot daytime temperatures. Dwellers

The Arabian oryx is the most highly specialized of the oryx for living in true desertAn area with little rain and often with hot daytime temperatures. extremes. Their light color reflects sunlight and the desertAn area with little rain and often with hot daytime temperatures. heat. On cold winter mornings, they trap their body heat in their thick undercoats to keep warm. Their legs also darken in the winter to absorb more of the sun's heat.

 

The oryx can smell rain from far away. When the wind brings the scent of rain, the head female oryx leads her herdA group of animals that travels and feeds together. in search of the fresh grasses which will have sprouted because of the rainfall.

 

The legend of the unicorn may have started with the Arabian oryx. When you look at them from the side, their two hornsGrowths on the head of an antelope, cow, sheep, or goat that are never shed. look like one. Their hornsGrowths on the head of an antelope, cow, sheep, or goat that are never shed. can reach 22 to 58 inches in length!