gazelle

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Observe a herd of gazelles grazing, playing, and nursing in their natural habitat on the African plains

Thomson's gazelles (Gazella thomsoni) use a ritualized alert signal to communicate the presence of a potential predator. This signal is characterized by a frozen posture in which the head is held high in the air and is pointed in the direction of the threat. Nearby individuals interpret this behaviour as a sign to prepare to flee.

Thomson's gazelles (Eudorcas [Gazella] thomsonii) on the Serengeti Plain, Tanzania.

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Animals & Nature

gazelle

mammal

Written by Richard Estes

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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Grant's gazelle

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Category: Animals & Nature

Related Topics:: dibatag; Thomson’s gazelle; Przewalski’s gazelle; Queen of Sheba’s gazelle; Mongolian gazelle

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gazelle, any of several fleet, medium-sized antelopes with slender, evenly developed limbs, level backs, and long necks. Most gazelles are tan-coloured, with white underparts and rump patch, a dark side stripe, and contrasting facial markings. They inhabit the arid lands of Asia from China to the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa from the Saharan deserts to the sub-Saharan Sahel, and northeast Africa from the Horn of Africa to Tanzania. Most gazelles are placed in the genus Gazella, family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla). Gazelles have adapted to inhabit waterless steppe, subdesert, and even desert. They can extract water from the plants they browse ...(100 of 1019 words)

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