Silver Dik-Dik

The silver dik-dik, Madoqua piacentinii, is a small antelope found in low, dense thickets along the southeastern coast of Somalia and in Acacia-Commiphora bushland in the Shebelle Valley of southeastern Ethiopia. It is the smallest species of dik-dik, 45 to 50 centimetres long and 30 to 33 centimetres high, weighing 2 to 3 kilograms. Its back and flanks are grizzled silvery, while the limbs, ears and muzzle are ochraceous. Little is known about its status, but numbers are believed to be decreasing. Together with the closely related Salt's dik-dik it forms the subgenus Madoqua. The taxonomy is disputed, and it has been suggested that the silver dik-dik is a subspecies of Swayne's dik-dik, although most recent authorities treat it as a monotypic species.