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| Pseudoryx nghetinhensis Dung, Giao, Chinh, Tuoc, Arctander, MacKinnon, 1993 |
The Saola or Vu Quang ox, also, infrequently, Vu Quang bovid (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), one of the world's rarest mammals, is a forest-dwelling bovine found only in Vietnam (Vu Quang Nature Reserve) and in Laos, near the Vietnam-Laotian border. Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) Mammals ( class Mammalia) are a class of Vertebrate Animals characterized by the presence of Sweat glands, including sweat glands A forest is an area with a high density of Trees There are many definitions of a forest based on various criteria The biological Subfamily bovines includes a diverse group of 10 species of medium to large sized Ungulates including domestic Cattle, Bison, Water Vietnam (ˌviːɛtˈnɑːm Việt Nam) officially Vu Quang is a remote forested region of Vietnam, in which several new species of Deer and Antelope have been discovered since the 1990s Laos (ˈlɑːoʊs or /ˈlaʊs/ officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a Landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma Laos (ˈlɑːoʊs or /ˈlaʊs/ officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a Landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma Its name Saola means spindle-[horned]. The scientific epithet nghetinhensis refers to the two Vietnamese provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh while Pseudoryx acknowledges the animal's similarities with the Arabian or African oryx. Nghệ An ( Hán Tự: 乂[[wikt 安|安]] is the largest province in the North Central Coast of Vietnam. Ha Tinh (in Vietnamese Hà Tĩnh; Hán Tự: 河[[wikt 靜|靜]] is a province on the north central coast of Vietnam ORYX is an encryption algorithm used in cellular communications The Hmong natives call this beast saht-supahp, a term derived from Lao meaning "the polite animal", because it moves quietly through the forest. The terms Hmong (m̥ɔ̃ŋ and Mong ( both refer to an Asian ethnic group in the mountainous regions of southern China.
Saolas have only been known to zoologists since 1992, initially from unusual horns obtained in Vietnam. Zoology (from Greek ζῷον, zoon, "animal" + λόγος, " Logos " "knowledge" is the branch of Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) Analysis of morphology and DNA has revealed that this is a new bovine genus, related to cattle, nyalas, kudu, and elands. A genus (plural genera from Γένος Latin genus "descent family type gender" is a low-level Taxonomic Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family Nyalas is a small town in the Malaysian state of Melaka, situated within the parliamentary constituency of Jasin. Kudu is an alternate spelling for kuzu the Japanese word for the plant Kudzu. Saolas are antelopes, in the sense that an antelope is any morphologically primitive bovine. Antelope are Ruminant hoofed Mammals of the family Bovidae in the order of Even-toed ungulates. It is not known how many individuals exist, as only 11 have been recorded alive.
In the past they were occasionally to be viewed at General Cheng's now-defunct zoo in Lak Xao, Laos. General Cheng Sayavong is a general of the Lao People's Revolutionary Army and head of the Borisat Phattana Khed Phudoi (BPKP or in English the Mountainous Areas Development
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Habitat and distribution
The saola occurs in the Annamite Range's moist forests and the Eastern Indochina dry and monsoon forests. The Annamite Range is a mountain range of eastern Indochina, which extends approximately 1100 km (700 miles through Laos, Vietnam, and a small area in Indochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. A monsoon is a seasonal prevailing wind which lasts for several months They have been spotted in steep river valleys at about 300 to 1800 m above sea level. These regions are distant from human settlements, covered primarily in evergreen or mixed evergreen and deciduous woodlands. In Botany, an Evergreen plant is a plant having leaves all year round Botany Autumn leaf color. See --> In Botany and Horticulture, deciduous Plants, including The species seems to prefer edge zones of the forests.
Saolas stay in mountain forests during the wet seasons, when water in streams and rivers is abundant, and move down to the lowlands in winter. They are shy and never enter cultivated fields or come close to villages. To date, all known captive saolas have died, leading to the belief that this species cannot live in captivity.
Description
The saola stands about 85 cm at the shoulder and weighs approximately 90 kg. The coat is a dark brown with a black stripe along the back. Its legs are darkish and there are white patches on the feet, and white stripes vertically across the cheeks, on the eyebrows and splotches on the nose and chin. All saolas have slightly backward-curved horns, which grow to half a metre in length.
Local populations report having seen saolas traveling in packs of two or three, rarely more.
Saola mark their territories by opening up a fleshy flap on their snout to reveal scent glands. They subsequently rub the underside against objects leaving a musky, pungent paste. The saolas' colossal scent glands are thought to be the largest of any living mammal. If the Saola mates, it will die shortly after.
Diet
They are reported to eat small leafy plants—especially fig leaves, and stems along rivers. A shrub or Bush is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of Woody plant, distinguished from a Tree Saolas generally live in small groups of less than five animals. The animal seems to have a browsing diet, considering its small incisors. Herbivory is a form of Predation in which an Organism, known as a herbivore, consumes principally Autotrophs ref name=Campbell>Campbell Incisors (from Latin incidere, "to cut" are the first kind of Tooth in Heterodont Mammals They are located in the Premaxilla
See also
Other rarely seen big mammals of the Indochina peninsula:
References
- Shuker, Karl P. The leaf muntjac, leaf deer or Putao muntjac ( Muntiacus putaoensis) is a small Species of Muntjac. Truong Son Muntjac or Annamite Muntjac ( Muntiacus truongsonensis) is a species of Muntjac Deer. The Giant Muntjac ( Muntiacus vuquangensis) is a species of Muntjac Deer. N. The New Zoo: New and Rediscovered Animals of the Twentieth Century (House of Stratus, 2002).
- Timmins et al (2005). Pseudoryx nghetinhensis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data List) created in 1963 is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a range map and justification for why this species is critically endangered
External links
- ARKive - images and movies of the saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis)
- Saola factsheet at Ultimate Ungulate
- "A new cow - a new species of ox, the pseudoryx, found in Southeast Asia - 1993 - The Year in Science", from Discover, Jan. Discover is a Science magazine that publishes articles about Science for a general audience 1994.
- The Vu Quang Bovid at BrainBox
- Vu Quang Ox - Pseudoryx nghetinhensis from the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre
- "A new species of living bovid from Vietnam" June 1993 article from Nature
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