pontiac1940
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Post by pontiac1940 on Apr 10, 2019 16:24:54 GMT
Taken on Sunday, April 7 south of Hanna, Alberta. Wiki The pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) is a species of artiodactyl mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is often known colloquially in North America as the American antelope, prong buck, pronghorn antelope, prairie antelope, or simply antelope because it closely resembles the true antelopes of the Old World and fills a similar ecological niche due to parallel evolution. It is the only surviving member of the family Antilocapridae...As a member of the superfamily Giraffoidea, the pronghorn's closest living relatives are the giraffes and okapi. The Giraffoidea are in turn members of the infraorder Pecora, making pronghorns more distant relatives of the Cervidae (deer) and Bovidae (cattle, goats, sheep, antelopes, and gazelles), among others.
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Post by whippet on Apr 10, 2019 18:31:31 GMT
They certainly are unusual. I can't see how they are closely related to giraffes, though.
You have fascinating animals in your part of the world, Clive.
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pontiac1940
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Post by pontiac1940 on Apr 10, 2019 19:10:34 GMT
Thanks whippet. We saw about 40 in several small bunches when we drove up on Sunday. They are always neat to see. Evolution and zoological taxonomy are most interesting and complex. The antelope's relationship to giraffes goes back millions of years. For a weird example of seemingly unrelated critters being distantly related see this: www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/photos/12-facts-change-way-see-elephants/elephants-closest-relative-rock-hyraxFun stuff. Here is another shot (just not cropped) of the same two antelope showing the prairie. This is semi-arid desert with limited precipitation. As you can see it is not green yet. Some years it is green until September, but more often it gets green and is dry again by late July or August.
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Post by hmca on Apr 10, 2019 19:18:24 GMT
How wonderful that these animals can still be seen in the wild. Great share, Clive!
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Post by whippet on Apr 11, 2019 14:12:02 GMT
What an interesting link, Clive. A quote from there - The manatee, the rock hyrax and the elephant share a common ancestor, Tethytheria, which died out more than 50 million years ago.
50 million years is a long time. People will be getting tired of hearing me say this - How on earth can that possibly be proved.
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pontiac1940
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Post by pontiac1940 on Apr 11, 2019 16:13:49 GMT
How on earth can that possibly be proved. Fossil samples and speculation. Apparently seemingly different species can have similar bone structures and with enough samples they can piece together evolutionary patterns. And the fossil records cover hundreds of million years. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FossilImagine the first person who found a brontosaurus leg bone that was 2 meters long?
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