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“Pronghorns are the fastest land animals in the Americas.”
The pronghorn is North America’s fastest land mammal, built for open grasslands and sagebrush. This herbivore sheds its horn sheaths each year and ranks as Least Concern overall.
Antilocapra americanaArtiodactylaAntilocapridae
Browse photographs of pronghorn across habitat, behavior, anatomy, and life stages.
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Core article
A closer look at habitat, diet, behavior, reproduction, and conservation.
Lean, sharp-eyed, and built for the open prairie, the pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) is the fastest land mammal in the Americas. This herbivore races across western grasslands and sagebrush flats from Canada to Mexico. People often call it an “American antelope,” but it belongs to its own family — Antilocapridae — and is not a true antelope like the African gazelle.
The pronghorn is the only living species in the family Antilocapridae. Its scientific name is Antilocapra americana. Within the order Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates), it shares a distant hoofed ancestry with deer and cattle, yet it is not a member of Bovidae.
During the Pleistocene, North America held several antilocaprid species. Predators included now-extinct American cheetahs, which likely shaped the extreme endurance and top speed we still see today. When those ancient cats vanished, the pronghorn kept its racing body — an adaptation that still helps it escape coyotes, wolves, and humans.
Adults typically measure 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 m) in body length and stand about 32 to 41 inches (81 to 104 cm) at the shoulder. Weight usually falls between 90 and 150 pounds (41 to 68 kg), with bucks heavier than does.
The coat is tawny to reddish-brown with a white belly, rump patch, and throat bands that flash when the animal runs. Bucks grow branched horns with a forward-pointing “prong”; does usually have shorter, simpler horns. Uniquely among horned mammals of this type, pronghorns shed the outer keratin sheath each year and regrow it over a permanent bony core.
Huge eyes provide nearly panoramic vision across open plains. Oversized lungs, a strong heart, and lightweight limbs support bursts near 55 mph (89 km/h) and sustained high cruising speeds that few predators can match.
Pronghorns prefer open grassland, shortgrass prairie, and sagebrush steppe where they can see for long distances. Dense forest blocks their main defense: early detection and escape. Their historic range covered much of western and central North America; today strong populations remain in the western United States, southern Canada, and parts of northern Mexico.
Some herds still migrate tens or even hundreds of miles between seasonal ranges, threading fences, highways, and broken habitat. Because pronghorns often duck under fences rather than leap them, wildlife-friendly fencing is a key conservation tool along migration corridors.
Pronghorns are selective herbivores more than pure grazers. Sagebrush, forbs (broadleaf wildflowers), shrubs, and tender grasses form much of the diet. In dry country they may also take cactus pads and other available plants. A multi-chambered ruminant stomach ferments tough fiber into usable energy.
Feeding often peaks at dawn and dusk. Rather than cropping a lawn of short grass like American bison do at times, pronghorns pick nutritious bites as they move, which helps them thrive on landscapes that look sparse at first glance.
Outside the breeding season, pronghorns form loose herds of mixed ages that scan the horizon for danger. When alarmed, they raise white rump hairs and flee in a bounding rush that can scramble pursuers. Bucks spar with horns during the rut and may hold temporary breeding territories.
Communication includes scent, posture, and sudden group flight. Unlike pack-hunting canids, pronghorns rely on vision, numbers, and speed. Infants use a “hider” strategy: mothers leave them tucked in grass, returning often to nurse until the fawns can keep up.
Breeding usually occurs in autumn. After a long gestation of about 250 days, does typically birth one or two fawns in spring when green forage returns. Newborns can stand quickly but lack adult speed, so hiding is critical for the first days of life.
Fawns grow rapidly on rich milk and soon join nursery groups. By late summer many young run nearly as fast as adults. Wild pronghorns often live 10 to 15 years if they avoid vehicles, fences, drought, and heavy predation.
(Population and conservation trend data sourced from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species)
The pronghorn is classified as Least Concern overall, with many western populations stable after strong recoveries from 19th-century lows. Still, habitat fragmentation, highways, impermeable fencing, energy development, and drought threaten local herds. Southern subspecies such as the Sonoran and peninsular pronghorn remain rare and depend on active management.
Conservation priorities include protecting migration routes, installing wildlife-friendly fences, restoring sagebrush and grassland habitat, and carefully managing hunting where populations are healthy.
Pronghorns are the fastest land animals in the Americas.
Despite the nickname “American antelope,” pronghorns are not true antelopes.
They are the only living members of the family Antilocapridae.
Both sexes can grow horns; bucks have the familiar branched prongs.
Pronghorns shed the outer horn sheath each year, unlike deer antlers that grow from bone alone.
Their huge eyes help them spot predators almost all the way around their heads.
Select a question to reveal the answer.
A pronghorn is a hoofed mammal native to North American grasslands. It looks a bit like an African antelope or gazelle, but it belongs to its own family, Antilocapridae.
Pronghorns live in open grasslands, prairies, and sagebrush country across western and central North America, from southern Canada through the United States into northern Mexico.
Pronghorns are herbivores. They browse sagebrush, wildflowers, shrubs, and grasses rather than grazing only short lawn-like grass.
Healthy adults can sprint about 55 miles per hour (89 km/h) and keep a fast pace for longer distances than most predators.
No. People call them American antelope because of their looks, but true antelopes live in Africa and Asia. Pronghorns evolved separately in North America.
A baby pronghorn is called a fawn. Fawns hide in grass for the first days of life, then join the herd once they can run.
Yes. Bucks grow larger branched horns. Does usually have smaller, simpler horns without the front prong.
The species as a whole is Least Concern, but some southern subspecies — including Sonoran and peninsular pronghorn — remain rare and heavily managed.
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