Editing Antelope (section)

==Distribution and habitat==
More species of antelope are native to [[Africa]] than to any other continent, almost exclusively in [[savannah]]s, with 25-40 species co-occurring over much of East Africa.<ref name="Bro16">{{cite book|last1=Bro-Jorgensen|first1=Jakob|last2=Mallon|first2=David P.|title=Antelope Conservation: From Diagnosis to Action|date=2016|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9781118409633|pages=163–164|edition=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vt5QDAAAQBAJ|access-date=9 July 2016|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171125020843/https://books.google.com/books?id=Vt5QDAAAQBAJ|archive-date=25 November 2017}}</ref> Because savannah habitat in Africa has expanded and contracted five times over the last three million years, and the fossil record indicates this is when most extant species evolved, it is believed that isolation in refugia during contractions was a major driver of this diversification.<ref name="Vrba95">{{cite book|last1=Vrba|first1=Elisabeth S.|title=Paleoclimate and Evolution, with Emphasis on Human Origins|date=1995|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0300063486|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1A8MmMaN4VwC|access-date=9 July 2016|language=en|page=104|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222073651/https://books.google.com/books?id=1A8MmMaN4VwC|archive-date=22 December 2016}}</ref> Other species occur in Asia: the [[Arabian Peninsula]] is home to the [[Arabian oryx]] and [[Dorcas gazelle]]. South Asia is home to the [[nilgai]], [[chinkara]], [[blackbuck]], [[Tibetan antelope]], and [[four-horned antelope]], while Russia and Central Asia have the Tibetan antelope and [[Saiga antelope|saiga]].
[[File:Blue Duiker skeleton.jpg|thumb|Blue duiker (''[[Blue duiker|Philantomba monticola]])'' skeleton on display at the [[Museum of Osteology]]]]
No antelope species is native to [[Australasia]] or [[Antarctica]], nor do any extant species occur in the [[Americas]], though the nominate saiga subspecies occurred in North America during the Pleistocene. North America is currently home to the native [[pronghorn]], which taxonomists do not consider a member of the antelope group, but which is often locally referred to as such (e.g., "American antelope"). In [[Europe]], several extinct species occur in the fossil record, and the saiga was found widely during the [[Pleistocene]] but did not persist into the later [[Holocene]],<ref>Yalden, Derek (1999) ''The History of British Mammals'' Academic Press. {{ISBN|0856611107}}</ref> except in Russian [[Kalmykia]]  and [[Astrakhan Oblast]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kalmykia.eu/nature/saiga/ |title=Republic of Kalmykia » Saiga |access-date=2016-12-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222090820/http://www.kalmykia.eu/nature/saiga/ |archive-date=2016-12-22 }}</ref>

Many species of antelope have been imported to other parts of the world, especially the United States, for exotic game hunting. With some species possessing spectacular leaping and evasive skills, individuals may escape. [[Texas]] in particular has many game ranches, as well as habitats and climates that are very hospitable to African and Asian plains antelope species. Accordingly, wild populations of blackbuck antelope, [[gemsbok]], and [[nilgai]] may be found in Texas.<ref>Mungall, Elizabeth Cary (2007) ''Exotic Animal Field Guide''. A&M University Press. College Station. {{ISBN|158544555X}}</ref>

Antelope live in a wide range of habitats. Most live in the African [[savannah]]s. However, many species are more secluded, such as the forest antelope, as well as the extreme cold-living saiga, the desert-adapted [[Arabian oryx]], the rocky [[koppie]]-living [[klipspringer]], and semiaquatic [[sitatunga]].<ref>Spinage, C. A. (1986). ''The Natural History of Antelopes''. Facts on File Publications. New York. {{ISBN|0709944411}}</ref>

Species living in forests, woodland, or bush tend to be sedentary, but many of the plains species undertake long migrations. These enable grass-eating species to follow the rains and thereby their food supply. The [[Wildebeest|gnus]] and [[gazelle]]s of [[East Africa]] perform some of the most impressive mass migratory circuits of all mammals.<ref>Estes, Richard D. (1992). ''The Behavior Guide to African Mammals''. University of California Press. {{ISBN|0520080858}}</ref>