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Pronghorn antelope

Pronghorn
Temporal range: 2.5–0 Ma
Early – Recent
Antilocapra americana.jpg
Adult male pronghorn in Oregon
Antilocapra americana female (Wyoming, 2012).jpg
Adult female pronghorn in Wyoming
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Antilocapridae
Subfamily: Antilocaprinae
Tribe: Antilocaprini
Gray, 1866
Genus: Antilocapra
Species: A. americana
Binomial name
Antilocapra americana
Ord, 1815
Subspecies

A. a. americana
A. a. mexicana
A. a. oregona
A. a. peninsularis
A. a. sonoriensis

PronghornRange.png
Range of the Pronghorn

A. a. americana
A. a. mexicana
A. a. oregona
A. a. peninsularis
A. a. sonoriensis

The pronghorn (pronunciation: /ˈprɒŋˌhɔːrn/) (Antilocapra americana) is a species of artiodactyl mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is often known colloquially in North America as the American antelope, prong buck, pronghorn antelope, or simply antelope because it closely resembles the true antelopes of the Old World and fills a similar ecological niche due to parallel evolution.

It is the only surviving member of the family Antilocapridae. During the period, about 12 antilocaprid species existed in North America. Three other genera (Capromeryx, and Tetrameryx) existed when humans entered North America but are now extinct.

As a member of the superfamily Giraffoidea, the pronghorn's closest living relatives are the giraffes and okapi. The Giraffoidea are in turn members of the infraorder Pecora, making pronghorns more distant relatives of the Cervidae (deer) and Bovidae (cattle, goats, sheep, antelopes, and gazelles), among others.


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