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PRONG HORN
ANTELOPE |
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Classification: |
The Pronghorn (Antilocapra
americana), is a species of artiodactyl mammal native to
interior western and central North America. Though not a
true antelope, it is often known colloquially in North
America as the Prong Buck, Pronghorn Antelope or simply
Antelope. |
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Description: |
Adult males are
1.3--1.5 m (4 1/4--5 ft) long from nose to tail and
stand 81–104 cm (2 5/8--3 3/8 ft) high at the shoulder,
and weigh 40--60 kg (88--132 lb). The females are on
average 13.5 cm long. The feet have just two hooves,
with no dewclaws. Males have a prominent pair of horns
on the top of the head, which are made up of an outer
sheath of hair-like substance that grows around a bony
core; the outer sheath is shed annually. Males have a
horn sheath about 12.5--43 cm (mean 25 cm) long with a
prong. Females have smaller horns, ranging from 2.5--15
cm (average 12 cm), and sometimes barely visible; they
are straight and very rarely pronged. Males are further
differentiated from females in that males will have a
small patch of black hair at the corner of the jawbone.
Pronghorns have a distinct, musky odor. Males mark
territory with a scent gland located on the sides of the
head. They also have very large eyes, with a 320 degree
field of vision. Unlike deer, Pronghorns possess a
gallbladder.
It can run exceptionally fast,
being built for maximum predator evasion through
running, and is generally accepted to be the fastest
land mammal in the New World. The top speed is very hard
to measure accurately and varies between individuals; it
is variously cited as up to 70 km/hr. Gaits used by the
Pronghorn include the highly distinctive pronk, a
leaping gait. |
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Natural Habitat: |
Pronghorns were
brought to scientific notice by the Lewis and Clark
Expedition, which found them in what is now South
Dakota, USA. The range extends from southern
Saskatchewan and Alberta in Canada south through the
United States (southwestern Minnesota and central Texas
west to northeastern California), to Sonora and San Luis
Potosí in northern Mexico, with a small population in
northern Baja California Sur. The subspecies known as
the Sonoran Pronghorn occurs in Arizona and Mexico.
Other subspecies include the Mexican Pronghorn and the
critically endangered Baja California Pronghorn. |
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