NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Speke's Gazelle
Gazella spekei Blyth, 1863
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
A Speke's Gazelle at the San Diego Zoo in San Diego, California, USA.
en:User:Cburnett · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Speke's gazelle (Gazella spekei) is the smallest of the gazelle species. It is confined to the Horn of Africa, where it inhabits stony brush, grass steppes, and semi deserts. This species has been sometimes regarded as a subspecies of the Dorcas gazelle, though this is now widely disregarded. Severe habitat fragmentation means it is now impossible to assess the natural migratory or nomadic patterns of G. spekei. Its numbers are under threat, and despite an increase in population, the IUCN in 2007 announced its status had changed from vulnerable to endangered. A captive population is maintained, and the wild population exists in the lower tens of thousands. As of 2008, this gazelle is classified as endangered under the IUCN Red List.
Speke's gazelle is named after John Hanning Speke, a British explorer of Central Africa. It is notable for its distinctively narrow and pointed face, and its large, inflatable nasal passages which it uses to produce a loud honking sound, especially during the breeding season as part of a display to attract mates.
Wikipedia contributors, Speke's gazelle; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:34:13.421714+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Gazella spekei Blyth, 1863
- Name authority
- Blyth, 1863
- Common name
- Speke's Gazelle
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Bovidae
- Genus
- Gazella
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderArtiodactyla Owen, 1848
- familyBovidae Gray, 1821
- subfamilyAntilopinae Gray, 1821
- tribeAntilopini Gray, 1821
- genusGazella Blainville, 1816
- speciesGazella spekei Blyth, 1863
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Gazella. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Arabian GazelleGazella arabica (Lichtenstein, 1827) | BovidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Deccan ChinkaraGazella bennettii (Sykes, 1831) | BovidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Queen of Sheba's GazelleGazella bilkis Groves & Lay, 1985 | BovidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Arabian Coastal GazelleGazella erlangeri Neumann, 1906 | BovidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Saudi Arabian gazelleGazella saudiya Carruthers & Schwarz, 1935 | BovidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Goitered GazelleGazella subgutturosa (Güldenstaedt, 1780) | BovidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Arabian gazelleGazella gazella (Pallas, 1766) | BovidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cuvier's GazelleGazella cuvieri (Ogilby, 1841) | BovidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sand GazelleGazella marica Thomas, 1897 | BovidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Western JebeerGazella shikarii Groves, 1993 | BovidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pelzeln's GazelleGazella pelzelni Kohl, 1886 | BovidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Salt Range GazelleGazella salinarum Groves, 2003 | BovidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=625100 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3FG3M. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.