Pronghorn

The pronghorn (UK: /ˈprɒŋ.hɔːrn/, US: /ˈprɔːŋ.-/) (Antilocapra americana) is a type of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal that lives in interior western and central North America. Even though it is not a true antelope, many people call it the American antelope, prong buck, pronghorn antelope, prairie antelope, or speed goat because it looks a lot like the antelopes of the Old World and fills a similar role in nature due to parallel evolution. It is the only living member of the family Antilocapridae.

During the Pleistocene epoch, about 11 other related species lived in North America, many with unusual horns. When humans first arrived in North America, three other groups (Capromeryx, Stockoceros and Tetrameryx) existed, but they are now extinct.

The pronghorn's closest living relatives are the giraffe and okapi. As part of the group called Pecora, pronghorns are distant relatives of deer, bovids, and moschids.

The pronghorn is the fastest land mammal in the Americas, able to run up to 55 mph (88.5 km/h). It is also the symbol of the American Society of Mammalogists.

Etymology

The pronghorn gets its name from the special horns it has. These horns have branches and a forward-pointing part, which makes them different from the horns of animals in the ox family, Bovidae.

European discovery

Pronghorns were first seen by Spanish explorers in the 1500s, but they were not studied closely until the expedition of 1804–06 by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark. During their journey, Lewis and Clark found pronghorns near the mouth of the Niobrara River in what is now Nebraska.

The pronghorn was first officially described by American ornithologist George Ord in 1815.

Description

Pronghorns have white fur on their rumps, sides, bellies, breasts, and throats. Male pronghorns are usually a bit longer and heavier than females, with males weighing between 88–143 lb and females between 75–106 lb. They have two hooves on each foot and a body temperature of about 100 °F (38 °C).

Pronghorns have very large eyes, giving them excellent vision, and unique horns that grow and are shed each year. Males have longer horns with a prong, while females have shorter, simpler horns. These animals are the fastest land mammals in North America, able to run up to 55 mph for short distances. Their bodies are built for speed, with large hearts, windpipes, and special hooves that help them run efficiently. When alarmed, they flare the white hair on their rumps to signal danger to others.

Range and ecology

The pronghorn lives mainly west of the Mississippi River. Long ago, huge numbers of pronghorns, along with bison and elk, roamed the American Prairie, earning it the nickname "American Serengeti." Today, pronghorns are found from southern Saskatchewan and Alberta in Canada down through many western U.S. states like Arizona, Colorado, and Utah, and even into Mexico. They prefer open lands between 3,000 and 5,900 feet high and eat many kinds of plants, some of which animals cannot eat.

Pronghorns need water and usually stay close to it—most live within 5 miles of a water source. They are good travelers, with some making long journeys of over 160 miles between different areas. However, they face dangers from animals like cougars, wolves, coyotes, and grizzly bears.

Social behavior and reproduction

Pronghorns live in groups during the winter. In the spring, these groups split up. Younger males form their own groups, females form smaller groups called harems, and older males live alone. Females have a way of deciding who is in charge, and they may push others away from food.

Males either guard a special area where females can come, or they guard a group of females. Males may change their behavior depending on the weather or how many pronghorns there are. In places with more rain, males guard their areas using special smells, sounds, and by fighting off others. Females also have different ways of choosing a mate. Some females visit many males before choosing one. Others watch males fight and choose the winner. Before fighting, males try to scare each other, and if that doesn’t work, they lock horns and try to hurt each other.

When a male wants to mate with a female, he makes soft sounds and shows off special patches on his face. Females have special smell glands on their faces, legs, and backs. If she likes him, she stands still, smells him, and lets him mate with her.

Pronghorns are pregnant for about 7–8 months, which is longer than most similar animals. They mate in mid-September, and the baby pronghorn, called a fawn, is born in late May. Fawns are born weighing between 4–9 lb (2–4 kg), usually 7 lb (3 kg). For the first few weeks, fawns hide in plants. They spend time with their mothers for about 20–25 minutes each day. Mothers nurse, clean, and lead their young to food and water, and protect them from danger. Females nurse their babies about three times a day. Males become independent a little earlier than females. Pronghorns can have babies when they are about 15 to 16 months old, but males usually don’t mate until they are three years old. They can live up to 10 years, and sometimes a little longer.

Main article: Pronghorn

Relationship with humans

In areas where the Plains Indians tribes and the Northwest Plateau people lived, pronghorns were an important food source. They also have a special place in Native American stories and traditions.

Explorers Merriwether Lewis and William Clark watched pronghorns and learned how local tribes hunted them. They called the animal “Antelope” or “Goat” and noted how fast it could run. They described how hunters on horseback would chase the pronghorns, and how some tribes would guide the animals into special fenced areas to catch them safely.

Population and conservation

At the start of the 20th century, people thought the pronghorn might disappear forever. By the 1920s, hunting had reduced their numbers to around 13,000. Efforts to protect them began in 1910 with funding for wildlife refuges in Oklahoma, Montana, and South Dakota. In 1927, a new refuge was started in Nevada, and by 1936, President Franklin Roosevelt helped create a large protected area for pronghorns.

Thanks to habitat protection and hunting rules, pronghorn numbers have grown to between 500,000 and 1,000,000 since the 1930s. Some areas have seen smaller numbers because of a disease spread from sheep, but overall, things are better. Pronghorns face challenges because roads and fences block their paths, but they are still quite common in places like Wyoming and northern Colorado. Some pronghorn groups, like the Sonoran pronghorn, are endangered and have very few left.

Explanatory notes

No explanatory notes are provided in the source content for this section.