Below: PRONGHORNS - The pronghorn
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 Pleistocene Period, about 12 antilocaprid species existed in North America. Three other genera 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, and antelopes), among others. |
