The Lowdown
A living relic of the Pleistocene Ice Age that once shared grasslands with woolly mammoths, the saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) is famous for its extraordinary, inflatable bulbous nose. Standing just two and a half feet at the shoulder, it is a champion long-distance runner of the Eurasian steppes.
Its enlarged, flexible proboscis functions as an internal air-conditioning and filtration chamber. In summer, its convoluted mucous membranes filter out choking dust kicked up by migrating herds; in winter, the blood-rich nasal cavity warms subzero Siberian air before it reaches the lungs.
Biological Fact: Female saigas frequently give birth to twins, and newborn calves can run faster than an Olympic sprinter when they are just three days old.
Saiga herds migrate hundreds of miles each spring, crossing swollen rivers and navigating harsh drought conditions. Males sport translucent, lyre-shaped amber horns with horizontal ringing, which they display in dramatic rutting clashes.
