OTHER NAMES: American Antelope, Prob Buck, Prairie Antelope
Latin Etymology: Antilocapra ("antelope goat") americana ("of America")
Adult female Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) in Montana, USA - July 2024
Featured Subspecies: Antilocapra americana americana
Weight: 40-65kg / Length: 130-150cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern
A fascinating instance of a species that has survived it's evolutionary contemporaries. Despite appearances, they are not especially closesly related to Antelopes of Africa and Eurasia and are instead the sole survivor of a family of species that spread across the americas filling different niches. Their closest living relatives are the Giraffe and Okapi. They also have the distinction of being the second fastest land animal in the world and the fastest in the Americas, which is somewhat perculiar in the context of a lack of high speed pursuit predators in modern America, has been postulated as an adaptation to outrun the now extinct American Cheetah.
Related Species:
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Antilocapridae
Genus: Antilocapra
SUBSPECIES: A. a. americana, A. a. mexicana, A. a. peninsularis, A. a. sonoriensis
- Sighting Locations -
UNITED STATES - Found inland on suitable habitat in the Western Lower 48
- CHICAGO TO ALASKA ROADTRIP 2024: Seen in Montana
Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto
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