Pronghorn

North America · speed champion · unique mammal · plains

Blazingly fast runner. Pronghorns are built for speed and can run up to 60 miles per hour, making them one of the fastest land animals in North America. They got their speed from millions of years of evolution on the open plains.

Not actually an antelope. Even though pronghorns look a lot like antelopes and people call them that, they are not true antelopes. Pronghorns belong to their own special family called Antilocapridae, which makes them totally unique.

One of a kind survivor. The pronghorn is the only animal left alive in its entire family. All their relatives from millions of years ago have gone extinct, making pronghorns a living connection to the distant past.

Built for open spaces. Pronghorns live in the wide open prairies and deserts of western and central North America, where they fill the same role that antelopes play in Africa and Asia. They adapted perfectly to life on the grasslands through parallel evolution, which means they evolved the same traits as antelopes even though they are not related.