Antelope
Antelope are any of several hoofed, ruminant mammals, belonging to the family Bovidae, order Artiodactyla. This family also includes bison, buffalo, cattle, goats, and sheep. Although antelope resemble deer, they are much more closely related to cattle. Africa is the home of most antelope, although a few species survive in Asia and a close relative, the mountain goat, lives in North America. The numbers of antelope are sharply declining because of overhunting and habitat destruction. Habitats most common to antelope are grasslands, dry plains, and forests. Some antelope live in swamplands, on hot deserts, or at high mountain elevations.
CHARACTERISTICS
Antelope are ruminants, or cud chewers. They lack incisors, or biting teeth, in the upper front jaw, and thus must tear off grass stems by exerting pressure with the lower teeth against the upper gum pad. This food is swallowed mainly unchewed and is later regurgitated from the stomach in small wads, or cuds, for thorough chewing with the molars.
Antelope have slender legs, with two-hoofed toes on each foot. Many of them have taller rumps than forequarters, with powerful rear-leg muscles to facilitate running and leaping. Some can attain speeds of about 60 km/h (35 mph). The rigid structure of the backbone enables them to run this fast and to jump high without injury to themselves. Their senses of smell and hearing are well developed, their vision less so. These animals vary greatly in size. The largest, the giant eland of West Africa, may grow to a weight of more than 545 kg (1,200 lb) and a shoulder height of 1.8 m (6 ft). The smallest, the royal antelope of Africa's western coastal regions, weighs about 6.8 kg (15 lb) and stands 25 cm (10 in) tall at the shoulder.
Horns of spectacular beauty adorn the heads of most antelope. Many horns are long and curved; some are ringed, and many are spiral, S-shaped, or lyre-shaped. The male four-horned antelope of Burma and India has two pairs of horns, one atop its head and the other on its forehead. Horns range in length from those of the royal antelope, which protrude less than 2.5 cm (1 in), to the corkscrew-shaped 1.5-m (5-ft) horns of the kudu of eastern and southern Africa. Antelope horns are nonbranching and have a bony core. They are not shed periodically, as are the antlers of deer but are permanent structures.
CLASSIFICATION
Although authorities sometimes disagree on what animals to include in the antelope group, it is generally agreed that it comprises about 50 genera and more than 100 species, including the gazelles. Among the largest and best-known antelopes are the oryn, gnus (wildebeests), elands, kudus, hartebeests, sable antelope, and roan antelope of the African plains. The bongi is a large antelope of African forests.
Medium-sized antelope include the black buck of India and the African impala and springbok. The North American pronghorn, often called pronghorn antelope, is not a true antelope. It is, however, North America's fastest mammal able to run at more than 45 miles per hour. For added security, it boasts oversized lungs and windpipe, and the largest eyes vs. body weight of any mammal.
The antelope was one of the last of the artiodactyls to develop. Primitive antelope appeared in Eurasia in the late Miocene Epoch, about 12 million years ago. Humanlike apes, which evolved at about the same time, may have hunted antelope. Fossil remains found in East Africa give evidence that hominids hunted antelopes for food at least 2 million years ago. Today farmers in sub-Saharan Africa manage herds of elands for milk production.
Wyoming has the unique distinction of being the only state with more pronghorn than people.
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