|
| Pronghorn | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A pronghorn near Fort Rock, Oregon | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Suborder: | |
| Infraorder: | |
| Family: | Antilocapridae Gray, 1866 |
| Genus: | Antilocapra |
| Binomial name | |
| Antilocapra americana | |
The pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) is an even-toed ungulate mammal, the only living member of the family Antilocapridae.
It is a smallish ruminant mammal which looks like an antelope. It is 1.3–1.5 m (4 ft 3 in – 4 ft 11 in) long from nose to tail, and stands 81–104 cm (2 ft 8 in – 3 ft 5 in) high at the shoulder
The pronghorn lives in North America. It lives in the prairies, but sometimes also in the desert and the Rocky Mountains.
The antilocaprids evolved in North America, where they filled a niche similar to that of the bovids that evolved in the Old World. During the Miocene and Pliocene, they were a diverse and successful group, with many different species. Some had horns with bizarre shapes, or had four, or even six, horns.
 |
|