Goitered Gazelle

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Goitered Gazelle
Goitered Gazelle in captivity
Goitered Gazelle in captivity
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Antilopinae
Genus: Gazella
Species: G. subgutturosa
Binomial name
Gazella subgutturosa
(Güldenstädt, 1780)

The Goitered, Black-tailed or Persian gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa) is a gazelle found in a large area of central Asia, including part of Iran and southern west Pakistan in the western end of the range, as well as the Gobi desert. The specific name means "full below the throat" and refers to the male having an enlargement of the neck and throat during the mating season. This is not a true goiter, which is caused by the enlargement of the thyroid gland.

The Goitered gazelle inhabits sands and gravel plains and limestone plateau. It runs at high speed, without the leaping, bounding gait seen in other gazelle species. Throughout much of their range, Goitered gazelles undergo seasonal migrations. Herds cover 10–30 km per day in the winter, with these distances being reduced to about 1–3 km in summer.

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