--- title: "Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "A 40 to 59 kg grassland runner that can average 65 km/h over 11 km, backed by an extraordinary capacity to consume and process oxygen." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/pronghorn-1.webp" published: "2026-10-06" updated: "2026-10-06" --- # Pronghorn (*Antilocapra americana*) > **Status**: Checked against 6 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: A 40 to 59 kg grassland runner that can average 65 km/h over 11 km, backed by an extraordinary capacity to consume and process oxygen. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: Krautrock & Electronic Pioneers // Kraftwerk, "Autobahn" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/31uidLEHAcF8Cw1cX1VCS8) > **Vibe Match**: Autobahn holds one steady cruising pulse for 22 minutes, never sprinting and never slowing. A pronghorn can run 11 km in 10 minutes, an average speed of 65 km/h, on an extraordinary capacity to consume and process oxygen. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Antilocapra americana* - **Danger Level**: Low - **Conservation Status**: Least Concern ([IUCN Red List](https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2016-3.rlts.t1677a50181848.en)) - **Superpower**: Distance speed: can run 11 km at an average of 65 km/h, powered by an extraordinary capacity to consume and process oxygen - **Habitat**: Treeless plains, basins and deserts of western North America, from southern Canada to northern Mexico - **Diet**: Forbs, grasses and shrubs, with sagebrush important in winter - **Tags**: mammal, ungulate, hoofed, herbivore, grassland, desert, super-speed, super-endurance, horns ## Natural History & Behavior ## Built for the long chase A cheetah is a sprinter. A pronghorn is a distance runner. Its alleged top speed is 100 km/h, second only to the cheetah among land vertebrates. It can also run 11 km in 10 minutes, an average speed of 65 km/h. How? Not with special lung structures. Scientists measured the pronghorn's maximum oxygen uptake and concluded that it has an extraordinary capacity to consume and process oxygen. Their hearts and lungs are large for their body size. Their legs are long and slender, with joints that work like hinges and move only in the line of travel. > **Ghosts of predators past** John Byers of the University of Idaho attributes this speed and endurance to ancient pronghorn living with faster predators such as the North American cheetah. Those predators vanished from North America more than 10,000 years ago, but the pronghorn kept the speed. ## Size, range and menu An adult is 1.3 to 1.4 m long and 80 to 90 cm tall at the shoulder. It weighs 40 to 59 kg, and males are about 10 percent larger than females. The range runs across the treeless plains, basins and deserts of western North America, from southern Canada to northern Mexico. Pronghorn eat a wide mix of plants. Forbs, the non-woody flowering plants, are preferred in summer. In winter they lean on shrubs, especially sagebrush. They can go for weeks without a drink, getting moisture from their food. In the wild they tend to live less than 10 years. One captive animal lived 17. ## Odd bits of equipment Pronghorn are not true antelope. They have their own family and no close relatives on any other continent. They are also the only animals with forked horns that are shed every year. A buck's horns reach full height at two to three years old, averaging 25 cm. Their eyes are the largest of any North American hoofed mammal for their body size. When a pronghorn spots a predator, it releases an alarm odour from rump glands while the white fur on its rump stands up. The herd gets the message by sight and smell. Newborn fawns can take their first steps 30 minutes after birth and can outrun a person at four days old. ## Back from the brink Settlement, unregulated killing and habitat loss cut their numbers by about 99% in the late 1800s. Hunting limits, habitat protection and relocations helped numbers climb past 1 million by the 1980s. The IUCN rates the species Least Concern. One herd in western Wyoming migrates about 100 miles (161 km) south from Grand Teton National Park each autumn and returns along the same corridor in spring. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How fast can a pronghorn run? A 1991 Nature study calls 100 km/h its alleged top speed, which would put it behind only the cheetah on land. The same study describes it as a distance runner able to cover 11 km in 10 minutes, or 65 km/h on average. *(Source: [Lindstedt et al. 1991]())* ### Is a pronghorn an antelope? Not a true one, though it is often called pronghorn antelope or American antelope. Taxonomists give it a family of its own, Antilocapridae, and no close relative lives on another continent. *(Source: [San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance]())* ### How long does a pronghorn live? Usually under 10 years in the wild, though there are anecdotal reports of wild animals reaching 15. AnAge gives the maximum longevity as 17 years, for an animal in captivity. *(Source: [AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database, Human Ageing Genomic Resources]())* ### Why can't pronghorn jump fences? Their limbs are built for running, not leaping. They can no longer jump because they have lost the suspension mechanism that deer have. *(Source: [Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan]())* ## Sources 1. [Lindstedt et al. (1991). Running energetics in the pronghorn antelope. Nature.]() 2. [Antilocapra americana (pronghorn). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.]() 3. [Pronghorn. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.]() 4. [AnAge entry for Antilocapra americana. AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database, Human Ageing Genomic Resources.]() 5. [White, Barnowe-Meyer, Garrott & Byers. Yellowstone Pronghorn: Recovering from the Brink of Extirpation. National Park Service.]() 6. [Antilocapra americana. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T1677A115056938.]() *Published October 6, 2026. 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