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= Banksia violacea =
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Banksia violacea , commonly known as violet banksia , is a species of shrub or tree in the plant genus Banksia ( family Proteaceae ) . It generally grows as a small shrub to 1 @.@ 5 m ( 5 ft ) high with fine narrow leaves , and is best known for its unusually coloured dark purple @-@ violet inflorescences . The colour of the inflorescences , short leaves , and flattened follicles which are sticky when young , help identify this species from others in the field . It is found in low shrubland in southern regions of Western Australia from Esperance in the east to Narrogin in the west , growing exclusively in sandy soils .
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First described in 1927 by the West Australian botanist Charles Gardner , the species was at one stage considered a variety of B. sphaerocarpa . Although there are no recognised subspecies or varieties , both lignotuberous and nonlignotuberous forms exist for Banksia violacea . Wasps , ants and flies have been recorded visiting flower spikes . Banksia violacea is classified as Not Threatened under the Wildlife Conservation Act of Western Australia . Regarded as of little value to floriculture , it is rarely cultivated .
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= = Description = =
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Banksia violacea grows as a shrub up to 1 @.@ 5 m ( 5 ft ) tall , with narrow leaves 1 β 2 cm ( 0 @.@ 4 β 0 @.@ 8 in ) long and about 0 @.@ 15 cm ( 0 @.@ 06 in ) wide . New growth occurs in summer , and flowering ranges from November to April with a peak in February , but can be irregular in timing . Flowers arise from typical Banksia " flower spikes " , and the inflorescences are made up of hundreds of pairs of flowers densely packed in a spiral around a woody axis . Roughly spherical with a diameter of 2 β 3 cm ( 0 @.@ 8 β 1 @.@ 2 in ) , the flower spikes arise from lateral stems lie partly within the foliage . Unusually for Banksia species , the inflorescences are often violet in colour , ranging anywhere from a dark violet @-@ black through various combinations of violet and greenish @-@ yellow in less pigmented blooms . Each flower consists of a tubular perianth made up of four fused tepals , and one long wiry style . The styles are hooked rather than straight , and are initially trapped inside the upper perianth parts , but break free at anthesis . The old flowers gradually fade to brown . The fruiting structure or follicle is a stout woody " cone " , with a hairy appearance caused by the persistence of old withered flower parts . These follicles are crowded around the globular spike ( called an infructescence at this point ) and are oval to rhomboid , although the crowding makes some irregularly shaped . They measure 1 β 2 @.@ 5 cm ( 0 @.@ 4 β 1 in ) long , 0 @.@ 6 cm ( 0 @.@ 2 in ) high and 0 @.@ 8 β 2 @.@ 2 cm ( 0 @.@ 3 β 0 @.@ 9 in ) wide . They are quite flattened and lack a ridge along the valve line . When young , the follicles are greenish in colour and slightly sticky , and covered in fine white hairs , fading to tan or grey with age . They open with fire , releasing a winged wedge @-@ shaped ( cuneate ) seed 2 β 2 @.@ 5 cm ( 0 @.@ 8 β 1 in ) long . The mottled dark grey seed body is falcate ( crescent @-@ shaped ) and measures 1 @.@ 2 β 1 @.@ 8 cm ( 0 @.@ 5 β 0 @.@ 7 in ) long and 0 @.@ 2 β 0 @.@ 25 cm ( 0 @.@ 1 in ) wide , with a flattened dark brown wing 1 @.@ 1 β 1 @.@ 7 cm ( 0 @.@ 4 β 0 @.@ 5 in ) wide . The woody separator has the same dimensions as the seed .
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The bright green cotyledon leaves of the seedlings are oblong to linear in shape and measure 1 @.@ 5 cm ( 0 @.@ 6 in ) long by 0 @.@ 3 cm ( 0 @.@ 1 in ) wide . The greenish red hypocotyl is hairy , as are the stems of young plants . The hairy seedling leaves are crowded and oppositely arranged . They measure 0 @.@ 7 β 1 @.@ 3 cm ( 0 @.@ 2 β 0 @.@ 5 in ) in length and have recurved margins . Young plants often begin branching within their first year of life .
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= = Taxonomy = =
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The type specimen of Banksia violacea was collected by the West Australian botanist Charles Gardner on 14 December 1926 in the vicinity of Lake Grace . The following year , he published a description of the species in Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Western Australia . He placed it in section Oncostylis of Bentham 's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia , giving it the specific epithet violacea in reference to the violet flowers . Thus the full name of the species , with author citation , is Banksia violacea C.A.Gardner. The species has been considered a variety of B. sphaerocarpa ( Fox Banksia ) ; this view was published by William Blackall in his 1954 How to know Western Australian wildflowers . He considered B. violacea to be a variety of B. sphaerocarpa with violet flowers . This description was an invalid publication , however , and a nomen nudum . In 1981 Alex George declared Banksia sphaerocarpa var. violacea Blackall a nomenclatural synonym of B. violacea .
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In George 's 1981 arrangement , B. violacea was placed in subgenus Banksia because its inflorescence is a typical Banksia " flower spike " ; section Oncostylis because of its hooked styles ; and series Abietinae because its inflorescence is roughly spherical . It was placed in taxonomic sequence between B. incana ( Hoary Banksia ) and B. meisneri ( Meissner 's Banksia ) .
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In 1996 , Kevin Thiele and Pauline Ladiges published the results of a cladistic analysis of morphological characters of Banksia . They retained George 's subgenera and many of his series , but discarded his sections . B. ser . Abietinae was found to be very nearly monophyletic and so it was retained . It further resolved into four subclades , so Thiele and Ladiges split it into four subseries . B. violacea appeared in the last of these :
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This clade became the basis of B. subseries Longistyles , which Thiele defined as containing those taxa with very long and slender styles , smoothly convex perianth limbs without a costal ridge , and thickened margins . In accordance with their cladogram , their arrangement placed B. violacea first in taxonomic sequence , followed by B. laricina ( Rose @-@ fruited Banksia ) . However , Thiele and Ladiges ' arrangement was not accepted by George , who , questioning the emphasis on cladistics , rejected most of their changes in his 1999 arrangement , restored B. series Abietinae to his broader 1981 definition , and abandoned all of Thiele and Ladiges ' subseries . George commented that the species has no close relatives , being " loosely allied " to B. sphaerocarpa ( Fox Banksia ) and B. telmatiaea ( Swamp Fox Banksia ) . Despite this , the sequence of the series was altered so that B. violacea fell between B. scabrella ( Burma Road Banksia ) and B. incana , and its placement in George 's arrangement may be summarised as follows :
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Banksia
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B. subg . Banksia
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B. sect . Banksia ( 9 series , 50 species , 9 subspecies , 3 varieties )
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B. sect . Coccinea ( 1 species )
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B. sect . Oncostylis
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B. ser . Spicigerae ( 7 species , 2 subspecies , 4 varieties )
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B. ser . Tricuspidae ( 1 species )
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B. ser . Dryandroideae ( 1 species )
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B. ser . Abietinae
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B. sphaerocarpa ( 3 varieties )
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B. micrantha
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B. grossa
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B. telmatiaea
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B. leptophylla ( 2 varieties )
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B. lanata
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B. scabrella
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B. violacea
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B. incana
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B. laricina
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B. pulchella
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B. meisneri ( 2 subspecies )
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B. nutans ( 2 varieties )
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B. subg . Isostylis ( 3 species )
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Since 1998 , an American botanist , Austin Mast , has been publishing results of ongoing cladistic analyses of DNA sequence data for the subtribe Banksiinae . His analyses suggest a phylogeny that is very greatly different from George 's arrangement , and somewhat different from Thiele and Ladiges ' . With respect to B. violacea , Mast 's results agree with its placement near B. laricina and B. incana , placing it in a clade with these two species and B. sphaerocarpa var. dolichostyla ( treated at species rank as B. dolichostyla ) . However , Thiele 's B. subseries Longistyles appears to be polyphyletic , as do both definitions of B. ser . Abietinae β that is , none form a natural grouping .
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Early in 2007 , Mast and Thiele initiated a rearrangement of Banksia by merging Dryandra into it , and publishing B. subgenus Spathulatae for the taxa having spoon @-@ shaped cotyledons . They foreshadowed publishing a full arrangement once DNA sampling of Dryandra was complete ; in the meantime , if Mast and Thiele 's nomenclatural changes are taken as an interim arrangement , then B. violacea is placed in B. subgenus Spathulatae .
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= = Distribution and habitat = =
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B. violacea occurs in southern regions of Western Australia , from Woodanilling to Esperance and as far north as Hyden . This distribution includes areas of the Avon Wheatbelt , Esperance Plains and Mallee biogeographic regions . It favours white sandy soils , often overlying laterite , clay or quartzite . It usually grows among heath and shrublands , associated with mallee eucalypts and Banksia sphaerocarpa var. caesia . Banksia violacea is classified as Not Threatened under the 1950 Wildlife Conservation Act of Western Australia .
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= = Ecology = =
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Like most other Proteaceae , Banksia violacea has proteoid roots , roots with dense clusters of short lateral rootlets that form a mat in the soil just below the leaf litter . These enhance solubilisation of nutrients , thus allowing their uptake in low @-@ nutrient soils such as the phosphorus @-@ deficient soils of Australia . B. violacea is highly susceptible to Phytophthora cinnamomi dieback .
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Banksia violacea is one of a small number of Banksia species that has both lignotuberous and non @-@ lignotuberous populations . In both cases , plants are adapted to release their aerial seed bank following a bushfire , ensuring seedlings are established on clear and relatively fertile ground ; however the possession of a lignotuber makes plants much less reliant on fire regime for population maintenance and regeneration , as maternal plants are not killed by bushfire , but resprout from below ground level . Lignotuberous plants generally occur among the north @-@ eastern populations , in the vicinity of Woodanilling . An investigation into the biogeography of these plants failed to find any vegetative , climatic or other environmental factors associated with the possession of a lignotuber .
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Banksia flowerheads in general play host to a variety of birds , mammals and insects . However , only wasps , ants and flies were recorded visiting flower spikes during observations for The Banksia Atlas in the mid @-@ 1980s .
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= = Cultivation = =
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Banksia violacea is rarely cultivated . It is a slow @-@ growing plant that tends to become untidy with age , and generally does not flower until four to five years after sprouting from seed . Flowers are an unusual colour , but occur within the bush where they grow within and are usually obscured by foliage . It tolerates light pruning not below the green foliage , except for the variant with a lignotuber , which may be pruned heavily . George recommends a sunny position in light , sandy soil . Professor Margaret Bernard Sedgley of the Waite Institute suggests the species is of no value to floriculture , as the inflorescences are too small and obscured by the foliage , although she does add that the purple colour may be a worthwhile character to select for in plant breeding . Seeds do not require any treatment , and take 19 to 50 days to germinate .
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= Rob Howard =
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Rob Howard ( born 1954 or 1955 ) is a Canadian politician who was elected to the 39th Parliament of British Columbia as the Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from the riding of Richmond Centre . A member of the BC Liberal Party , he replaced retiring BC Liberal Olga Ilich in that riding , by winning the riding in the 2009 provincial election . While his party formed a majority government , Howard was not included in Gordon Campbell 's cabinet but was appointed to several committees , including the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts in the first two sessions , and Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services in the third and fourth session . Howard introduced one piece of legislation , the Trustee Board of the Church of God , Richmond Municipality , B.C. ( Corporate Restoration ) Act , 2009 ( Pr 402 ) , to retroactively restore that organization 's corporate status .
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As chair of the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services , Howard supported Premier Campbell 's efforts at establishing the Harmonized Sales Tax . Following Campbell 's resignation , Howard endorsed Kevin Falcon but Christy Clark won the leadership election . Clark eventually made Howard a Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Transportation . In this position he advocated for Open Sky agreements and continued this advocacy in his post @-@ political life by establishing the non @-@ profit organization OpenSkies4Canada . Howard did not seek re @-@ election during the 2013 provincial election and was replaced by BC Liberal Teresa Wat .
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Prior to his election to the legislature , Howard worked in property management . He served as a City Councillor in the Richmond , British Columbia for seven years . He was first elected to the Richmond , British Columbia City Council in the October 2001 by @-@ election as a member of the Richmond Non @-@ Partisan Association and was re @-@ elected in the November 2002 and 2005 civic elections as a member of the Richmond First Party . He sat on council as an independent starting in 2006 . While on council he advocated in favour of casino expansion , locating the Olympic speed @-@ skating oval in Richmond , and developing a convention centre .
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= = Background = =
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Rob Howard was born and raised in Richmond . He graduated from the University of British Columbia where he studied Urban Land Economics . He went on to work at Richmond Savings Credit Union for almost 20 years , and in 1994 , started his own business , NCL Real Estate Management , which specialized in Property Development and property management . He is married to Trudy and has one son , Justin ( Jay ) .
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Howard volunteered with the Richmond Minor Hockey Association for over 12 years , and was active with Tourism Richmond , the Richmond Chamber of Commerce , and the Real Estate Institute of BC . While his mother had served as an Alderwoman on the Richmond City Council , Howard 's political career began with a civic bylaw election in October 2001 . Howard , belonging to the civic political party Richmond Non @-@ Partisan Association , was elected to one of the three available seats on the Richmond City Council . After less than a year on council , Howard left the Richmond Non @-@ Partisan Association to join a new pro @-@ business political party , Richmond First , which he saw as being less controlling and allowing him to make more independent decisions . He was re @-@ elected in the November 2002 civic election , with his Richmond First party taking four of the eight council seats .
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On local issues , Howard was an advocate of opening Richmond to gambling facilities , which led to the River Rock Casino Resort . He was supportive of heritage preservation measures but opposed Richmond 's tree preservation bylaw . He was the only one on council who preferred the elevated option for the Canada Line ( then known as the Richmond @-@ Airport @-@ Vancouver Line ) , whereas the other councillors preferred the ground level option or no SkyTrain extension at all . He was an advocate for building a convention centre and the most ardent supporter of removing a 55 @-@ acre piece of land from the Agricultural Land Reserve as a possible location for it , though the removal was refused . When the possibility of the city constructing a speed @-@ skating oval associated with the 2010 Winter Olympics came , Howard was a vocal supporter . He travelled to Lillehammer , Norway , in 2004 as part of a committee to investigate similar facilities built for the 1994 Winter Olympics . He also traveled to Pierrefonds , Quebec and Asia as part of the sister city program . He was not supportive of proposals to build a new soccer facility or financially contributing to tall ships tourism attractions . Because previous councils had made funding commitments at the expense of the city 's reserve funds rather than the tax base , Howard 's time on council was marked with consistent property tax increases around 3 to 4 % each year . Howard unsuccessfully lobbied other councillors to hire more police officers . He became the subject of a lawsuit , along with other Richmond First councillors , alleging a conflict @-@ of @-@ interest occurred after they approved a rezoning allowing a controversial pub .
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In the 2005 civic election , he was again elected , though his Richmond First party only won three of the eight seats . He unsuccessfully lobbied his fellow councillors to appoint him to fill one of Richmond 's two seats at Metro Vancouver . With not even his own party members supporting him for the Metro Vancouver seat and finding himself being alone in a number of issues , such as supporting the SkyTrain line being elevated , opposing the tree preservation bylaw , and wanting to hire more police officers , Howard left the Richmond First party in February 2006 to be an independent .
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= = Provincial politics = =
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Following the announcement by Richmond Centre MLA Olga Ilich that she would not be seeking re @-@ election , Howard announced , in January 2008 , that he would seek to replace Ilich as the BC Liberal Party candidate in the next election . As no one else came forward to challenge Howard , he was acclaimed , in November 2008 , to be the BC Liberal candidate . In the general election , held in May 2009 , he was challenged by a New Democratic Party candidate , notary public Kam Brar , and a Green Party candidate , teacher Michael Wolfe , and Nation Alliance Party candidate , accountant Kang Chen . The riding was considered to be a safe seat for the BC Liberals to win , which the 54 @-@ year @-@ old Howard did win with over 60 % of the vote , with his BC Liberal Party winning a majority government .
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As the 39th Parliament began , BC Premier Gordon Campbell did not include Howard in his cabinet . Howard was appoint to the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts in the first two sessions and then the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services in the third and fourth sessions , in which he chaired the committee and traveled the province gathering public input regarding budget spending priorities . He was also appointed to the Select Standing Committee on Crown Corporations and the Select Standing Committee on Education in the first two sessions , but neither committee held any meetings . He introduced one piece of legislation , a private members bill , the Trustee Board of the Church of God , Richmond Municipality , B.C. ( Corporate Restoration ) Act , 2009 ( Pr 402 ) which retroactively restored that organization 's corporate status .
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Howard toured the province advocating for the federal government to enter into Open skies agreements with Asian nations . He also advocated for the Harmonized Sales Tax . Howard remained loyal to Premier Campbell , praising his October 2010 announcement of using the remainder of the budget to cut income tax by 15 % , two weeks before the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services was to deliver its report on public consultation for budget priorities . After Campbell resigned , and the tax cut undone , the 2011 BC Liberal leadership election ensued . Along with Richmond 's other two MLAs , John Yap and Linda Reid , Howard endorsed Kevin Falcon to be the new party leader , citing Falcon 's willingness to listen to all arguments and saying " I think he can bring a new dynamic , a youthful energy to the discussion ; he 's a great speaker , a great debater . " Christy Clark eventually won the leadership and became premier but , like Campbell , did not include Howard in the executive council . In March 2012 , Premier Clark promoted Howard to a parliamentary secretary position under the Ministry of Transportation and directed to focus on air services agreements where he served until September . In early 2013 , Howard was selected by BC Liberal caucus chair , Gordon Hogg , to assist with the party 's investigation into the party 's alleged use of government resources and employees in partisan promotional efforts in certain ethnic communities .
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Following a summer of deliberations on his future , Howard cited " personal reasons " including a desire to spend more time with his wife , in his September 2012 announcement that he would not be seeking re @-@ election in the up @-@ coming May 2013 provincial general election . This decision was a surprise to his party because his Richmond Centre riding was considered a safe seat for him to be re @-@ elected . With no obvious successor , a competitive BC Liberal Party primary began . By the end of the year , two candidates announced their intention to run : school trustee Grace Tsang and RCMP officer Gary Law . However , Howard approached Teresa Wat , the CEO of the Chinese language radio station CHMB , to be his replacement . Though she did not live in the riding , she was viewed as a better candidate and , in January 2013 , the party announced she would be the candidate . While the other candidate Tsang withdrew his nomination to accept a position on a political advisory committee , Law alleged he was harassed to drop out and requested a RCMP investigation . Law decided to run as an independent candidate but only received xxx of the vote , with Wat winning the election and subsequently being named Minister of International Trade . Following the election Howard founded the non @-@ profit organization OpenSkies4Canada to advocate for Open Sky agreements to allow more airline competition in Canadian international airports .
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= = Electoral history = =
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= Oribi =
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Oribi ( pronounced / ΛΘ―rΙbΔ / ) ( Ourebia ourebi ) is a small antelope found in eastern , southern and western Africa . The sole member of its genus , the oribi was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann in 1782 . Eight subspecies are identified . The oribi reaches nearly 50 β 67 centimetres ( 20 β 26 in ) at the shoulder and weighs 12 β 22 kilograms ( 26 β 49 lb ) . This antelope features a slightly raised back , and long neck and limbs . The glossy , yellowish to rufous brown coat contrasts with the white chin , throat , underparts and rump . Only males possess horns ; the thin , straight horns , 8 β 18 centimetres ( 3 @.@ 1 β 7 @.@ 1 in ) long , are smooth at the tips and ringed at the base .
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Typically diurnal , the oribi is active mainly during the day . Small herds of up to four members are common ; males defend their group 's territory , 25 β 100 hectares ( 62 β 247 acres ) large . The oribi is primarily a grazer , and prefers fresh grasses and browses occasionally . A seasonal breeder , the time when mating occurs varies geographically . Unlike all other small antelopes , oribi can exhibit three types of mating systems , depending on the habitat β polyandry , polygyny and polygynandry . Gestation lasts for six to seven months , following which a single calf is born ; births peak from November to December in southern Africa . Weaning takes place at four to five months .
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The oribi occurs in a variety of habitats β from savannahs , floodplains and tropical grasslands with 10 β 100 centimetres ( 3 @.@ 9 β 39 @.@ 4 in ) tall grasses to montane grasslands at low altitudes , up to 2 @,@ 000 metres ( 6 @,@ 600 ft ) above the sea level . This antelope is highly sporadic in distribution , ranging from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia and Eritrea in the east and southward to Angola and the Eastern Cape ( South Africa ) . The oribi has been classified as Least Concern by the IUCN ; numbers have declined due to agricultural expansion and competition from livestock .
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= = Taxonomy = =
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The scientific name of the oribi is Ourebia ourebi . The sole member of its genus , the oribi is placed under the family Bovidae . The species was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann in 1782 . The oribi was formerly included in the tribe Neotragini , that comprised a variety of other dwarf antelopes , including Dorcatragus ( beira ) , Madoqua ( dik dik ) , Neotragus , Oreotragus ( klipspringer ) and Raphicerus . In 1963 , German mammalogist Theodor Haltenorth separated the oribi and Raphicerus into a new tribe , Raphicerini ; later on , zoologist Jonathan Kingdon assigned the oribi to Ourebini , a tribe of its own . The common name " oribi " ( pronounced / ΛΘ―rΙbΔ / ) comes from the Afrikaans name for the animal , oorbietjie .
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In a revision of the phylogeny of the tribe Antilopini on the basis of nuclear and mitochondrial data in 2013 , Eva Verena BΓ€rmann ( of the University of Cambridge ) and colleagues showed that the oribi is the sister taxon to all other antilopines . The cladogram below is based on the 2013 study .
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The following eight subspecies are identified :
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Of these , zoologists Colin Groves and Peter Grubb identify O. o. hastata , O. o. montana , O. o. ourebi and O. o. quadriscopa as independent species in their 2011 publication Ungulate Taxonomy .
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= = Description = =
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The oribi is a small , slender antelope ; it reaches nearly 50 β 67 centimetres ( 20 β 26 in ) at the shoulder and weighs 12 β 22 kilograms ( 26 β 49 lb ) . The head @-@ and @-@ body length is typically between 92 and 110 centimetres ( 36 and 43 in ) . Sexually dimorphic , males are slightly smaller than females ( except for O. o. ourebi , in which females are smaller ) . This antelope features a slightly raised back , and long neck and limbs . The glossy , yellowish to rufous brown coat contrasts with the white chin , throat , underparts and rump . The bushy tail , brown to black on the outside , has white insides ( except in O. o. hastata , that has a completely black tail ) . The subspecies show some variation in colouration ; O. o. ourebi is a rich rufous , while O. o. hastata is yellower .
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Only males possess horns ; the thin , straight horns , 8 β 18 centimetres ( 3 @.@ 1 β 7 @.@ 1 in ) long , are smooth at the tips and ringed at the base . The maximum horn length , 19 @.@ 1 centimetres ( 7 @.@ 5 in ) , was recorded in 1998 from Malawi . The oribi has at least six different , well @-@ developed scent glands ( such as the prominent preorbital glands near the eyes ) . The body has several modifications , such as the large fossae below the eyes , to accommodate such a large number of glands . Females have four teats .
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