It was Meriwether Lewis who decided to call the pronghorn, a species never before described for science, an "antelope," believing that the animals resembled the antelopes of Africa. This native American animal, however, is not an antelope at all. Some have suggested that it is a member of the goat family, but, in fact, it does not closely resemble goats either. Instead, most scientists agree that the pronghorn is an entirely unique species — and a species that is not found anywhere in the world other than in North America.

	Pronghorns on the prairie

Pronghorns can sprint at speeds exceeding 60 miles an hour, making it the fastest North American land animal, and a rival of the cheetah for record speeds. While this incredible swiftness helps the animals escape predators, pronghorns are extremely curious, and will often return to the place where they were frightened away to see what had alarmed them. This natural curiosity makes them much easier for a patient predator, or human hunter, to catch.

There are five subspecies of pronghorns, one of which, the Sonoran pronghorn (currently found in Arizona and Mexico), has been on the endangered species list since 1967. It is estimated that fewer than 800 of these pronghorns are left in the U.S. and Mexico. There is currently a recovery plan in effect to help the Sonoran pronghorns in Arizona, where the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is hoping to increase their population from about 140 to 300. Other subspecies of the pronghorn have recovered from the drastic reduction in their numbers that took place in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and now total between one to two million across the American West.