---
title: "What the sources say about the Pronghorn | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "52 claims from the Pronghorn profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the Pronghorn (*Antilocapra americana*)

> 52 claims from the Pronghorn profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Pronghorn](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/pronghorn/)

## Lindstedt et al. (1991). Running energetics in the pronghorn antelope. Nature.

https://doi.org/10.1038/353748a0

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| can average 65 km/h over 11 km | can run 11 km in 10 min, an average speed of 65 km h-1 |
| backed by an extraordinary capacity to consume and process oxygen | their performance is achieved by an extraordinary capacity to consume and process enough oxygen to support a predicted running speed greater than 20 ms-1 |
| A pronghorn is a distance runner. | pronghorn antelope are distance runners rather than sprinters |
| Its alleged top speed is 100 km/h, second only to the cheetah among land vertebrates | has an alleged top speed of 100 km h-1, second only to the cheetah (Acionyx jubatus) among land vertebrates |
| It can also run 11 km in 10 minutes, an average speed of 65 km/h. | can run 11 km in 10 min, an average speed of 65 km h-1 |
| Not with special lung structures. | attained without unique respiratory-system structures |
| Scientists measured the pronghorn's maximum oxygen uptake and concluded that it has an extraordinary capacity to consume and process oxygen | We measured maximum oxygen uptake in pronghorn antelope ... We conclude that their performance is achieved by an extraordinary capacity to consume and process enough oxygen |
| A 1991 Nature study calls 100 km/h its alleged top speed, which would put it behind only the cheetah on land. | has an alleged top speed of 100 km h-1, second only to the cheetah (Acionyx jubatus) among land vertebrates |
| Distance speed: can run 11 km at an average of 65 km/h | can run 11 km in 10 min, an average speed of 65 km h-1 |
| A cheetah is a sprinter. | Unlike cheetahs, however, pronghorn antelope are distance runners rather than sprinters |
| The same study describes it as a distance runner able to cover 11 km in 10 minutes, or 65 km/h on average. | pronghorn antelope are distance runners rather than sprinters, and can run 11 km in 10 min, an average speed of 65 km h-1 |
| A pronghorn can run 11 km in 10 minutes, an average speed of 65 km/h | can run 11 km in 10 min, an average speed of 65 km h-1 |
| on an extraordinary capacity to consume and process oxygen | an extraordinary capacity to consume and process enough oxygen |
| super-endurance | pronghorn antelope are distance runners rather than sprinters, and can run 11 km in 10 min (note: tags: super-endurance) |

## Antilocapra americana (pronghorn). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Antilocapra_americana/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Treeless plains, basins and deserts of western North America, from southern Canada to northern Mexico | distributed throughout the treeless plains, basins, and deserts of western North America, from the southern prairie provinces of Canada, southward into the western United States and to northern Mexico |
| Forbs, grasses and shrubs, with sagebrush important in winter | Pronghorns are herbivores, eating stems, leaves, grasses and shrubs. ... Particularly important in their is browse, especially sagebrush in winter. |
| with joints that work like hinges and move only in the line of travel | Pronghorns have modified their joints to act as hinges allowing only motion in the line of travel. |
| The range runs across the treeless plains, basins and deserts of western North America, from southern Canada to northern Mexico. | distributed throughout the treeless plains, basins, and deserts of western North America, from the southern prairie provinces of Canada, southward into the western United States and to northern Mexico |
| Forbs, the non-woody flowering plants, are preferred in summer. | Forbs with high water content are preferred in the summer diet |
| In winter they lean on shrubs, especially sagebrush. | Particularly important in their is browse, especially sagebrush in winter. |
| A buck's horns reach full height at two to three years old, averaging 25 cm. | The maximum horn height for males will occur within 2 to 3 years of age and will average 250 mm |
| They can no longer jump because they have lost the suspension mechanism that deer have. | they can no longer jump because they have lost the suspension mechanism that cervids have. |
| Their limbs are built for running, not leaping. | All these adaptations have made pronghorns excel in cursorial locomotion, but they can no longer jump |
| Pronghorn eat a wide mix of plants. | feeding on small amounts of a wide variety of plants |
| super-speed | traveling at speeds of 98 km/h when sprinting (note: tags: super-speed) |

## Pronghorn. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/pronghorn

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A 40 to 59 kg grassland runner | Weight: 87 to 129 pounds (40 to 59 kilograms) |
| An adult is 1.3 to 1.4 m long and 80 to 90 cm tall at the shoulder. | Length: 4.2 to 4.6 feet (1.3 to 1.4 meters) Height: 31 to 35 inches (80 to 90 centimeters) tall, at the shoulder |
| It weighs 40 to 59 kg, and males are about 10 percent larger than females. | Weight: 87 to 129 pounds (40 to 59 kilograms); males are about 10 percent larger than females |
| They can go for weeks without a drink, getting moisture from their food. | they can go for weeks without it, getting moisture from their food |
| Pronghorn are not true antelope. They have their own family and no close relatives on any other continent. | pronghorn are not true antelope. In fact, they’re unique enough to warrant their own taxonomic family, Antilocapridae. Pronghorn are native to North America and have no close relatives on any other continent. |
| They are also the only animals with forked horns that are shed every year. | Pronghorn are the only animals in the world that have forked horns that shed each year! |
| Their eyes are the largest of any North American hoofed mammal for their body size. | Pronghorn have the largest eyes of any North American ungulate in relation to 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. | If a pronghorn sees a predator, it releases an alarm odor from these glands while the white fur on its rump stands up. |
| The herd gets the message by sight and smell. | This sends a message by both sight and smell to let other pronghorn know of the danger. |
| Newborn fawns can take their first steps 30 minutes after birth and can outrun a person at four days old. | newborns can take their first wobbly steps just 30 minutes after birth. At four days old, they can outrun people |
| Not a true one, though it is often called pronghorn antelope or American antelope. | Although they’re often called antelope, pronghorn antelope, or American antelope, pronghorn are not true antelope. |
| Taxonomists give it a family of its own, Antilocapridae, and no close relative lives on another continent. | they’re unique enough to warrant their own taxonomic family, Antilocapridae. Pronghorn are native to North America and have no close relatives on any other continent. |

## AnAge entry for Antilocapra americana. AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database, Human Ageing Genomic Resources.

https://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Antilocapra_americana

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| In the wild they tend to live less than 10 years. | In the wild, these animals tend to live less than 10 years |
| One captive animal lived 17. | One captive specimen lived 17 years |
| Usually under 10 years in the wild, though there are anecdotal reports of wild animals reaching 15. | In the wild, these animals tend to live less than 10 years [ 0542 ], though there are anecdotal reports of wild animals living as much as 15 years. |
| AnAge gives the maximum longevity as 17 years, for an animal in captivity. | Maximum longevity 17 years (captivity) |
| weightKg: 46.1 | Adult weight 46,100 g (note: 46.1 kg from 46,100 g; Medium, inside SDZ's 40 to 59 kg) |

## White, Barnowe-Meyer, Garrott & Byers. Yellowstone Pronghorn: Recovering from the Brink of Extirpation. National Park Service.

https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/upload/download_YELLOWSTONE-PRONGHORN-BOOK.pdf

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Their hearts and lungs are large for their body size. Their legs are long and slender | Pronghorn have long, slender legs and large hearts and lungs for their body size. |
| 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 | Dr. John Byers from the University of Idaho attributed this speed and endurance to “ghosts of predators past” which refers to a relic capability from natural selection on ancient pronghorn when they lived 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. | These predators vanished from North America over 10,000 years ago, but pronghorn still retain their evolved speed |
| Settlement, unregulated killing and habitat loss cut their numbers by about 99% in the late 1800s. | settlement, unregulated killing, and habitat loss decimated their numbers by about 99% during the latter half of the 19th century |
| helped numbers climb past 1 million by the 1980s | gradual increase in numbers to more than 1 million pronghorn by the 1980s |
| Hunting limits, habitat protection and relocations | government agencies implemented hunting and livestock grazing restrictions, habitat protection measures |
| 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. | One herd in western Wyoming migrates each autumn from Grand Teton National Park about 100 miles (161 kilometers) south to the upper Green River basin during the winter months. They return to the Park along the same corridor the following spring. |
| relocations helped numbers climb | captured and relocated (translocation) more than 30,000 pronghorn from well-populated areas to restore or augment other populations |

## Antilocapra americana. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T1677A115056938.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2016-3.rlts.t1677a50181848.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). |
| The IUCN rates the species Least Concern. | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). |