Oryx dammah Cretzschmar 1827

Oryx dammah Cretzschmar 1827, in: Ruppell, Atlas Reise Nordl. Afr., Zool. Saugeth., Vol. 1: 22.

Type Locality: Sudan, Northern Kordofan Prov., "bewohnen die grossen Steppen von Haraza [vicinity of Jebel Haraza]".

Vernacular Names: Scimitar-horned Oryx.

Distribution: Extinct in Algeria, N Burkina Faso, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, N Nigeria, N Senegal, Sudan, and Tunisia. Probably last occurred in the wild in the 1980s in Chad (East et al., 1999). Survives as captive populations.

Conservation: CITES – Appendix I; U.S. ESA – Proposed Endangered; IUCN – Extinct in the Wild.

Discussion: Year of publication is 1827, not 1826, according to J. E. Hill (ms notes based on Anon., 1829:1291-1292). Includes tao (Ansell, 1972:48). The name algazel Oken, 1816, was declared invalid by Opinion 417 of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (1956 b).