The Americas, which encompasses North, Central and South America and the Caribbean, has a huge variety of landscapes – and therefore animals.
From imposing mountains to desert plains and tropical beaches, these habitats provide a home for all sorts of creatures.
But have you ever wondered what the fastest land mammal in the Americas is?
- What is the fastest mammal?
- What's the world’s fastest rodent? Discover the speed machine that can reach speeds of 37mph
What’s the fastest land mammal in the Americas?
The fastest terrestrial mammal found in the Americas is the pronghorn. While it’s commonly called an American antelope, its closest living relatives are the giraffe and okapi.
- A weird antelope that looks like something out of Star Wars has reclaimed the remote Kazakhstan steppe
- It looks half-zebra, half-giraffe and has a tongue nearly 50cm long. All you need to know about one of the world's weirdest animals
It’s the only surviving member of the Antilocapridae family, which are a family of ruminants endemic to North America. They are commonly found in western North America, ranging from Alberta (in Canada) and into Mexico.
The pronghorn can reach speeds up to 55 mph (88.5 kmph). It’s thought to have evolved a larger cardiopulmonary system in order to reach these speeds to evade the now-extinct North American cheetah and American lion.
While it’s thought that the cheetah could outpace a pronghorn in a short sprint, pronghorns are built for endurance running, so could outrun a cheetah in stretches of over 800 metres.
Top image: a pronghorn in Wyoming. Credit: Scott Suriano/Getty Images
