{"id":9198,"date":"2013-08-12T03:45:36","date_gmt":"2013-08-12T09:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=9198"},"modified":"2026-03-01T07:56:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T13:56:11","slug":"an-odd-pronghorn-with-two-extra-horns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/08\/12\/an-odd-pronghorn-with-two-extra-horns\/","title":{"rendered":"An Odd Pronghorn With Two Extra Horns?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FrontalFrontal view of an odd Pronghorn buck<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday while looking for birds to photograph out on Antelope Island State Park I photographed this Pronghorn and through my viewfinder I could see two strange horny growths on its muzzle and wasn’t sure what they were.<\/p>\n

Then I discovered in my research that they might be extra horn growths. In this frame the Pronghorn buck looks fairly normal as it chews on some food, but looking closely there are two very dark spots on the ridge of its muzzle.<\/p>\n

\"SideSide view of an odd Pronghorn buck showing two extra horns on its muzzle<\/span><\/p>\n

This image shows a side view of the Pronghorn buck’s face with the two unusual horn growths shown protruding from its muzzle. I did some research on line after I arrived home and found two articles of interest.<\/p>\n

The first is from the San Diego Zoo<\/span><\/a>:<\/p>\n

Occasional specimens have extra horns or teats, females may or may not have horns, and some females have a different type of uterus than others (O\u2019Gara, 1968).<\/p>\n

The second is from a taxidermy forum<\/span><\/a>:<\/p>\n

4 horned pronghorn<\/span><\/span>
\nThis response submitted by mike d on 1\/8\/06 at 7:47 PM. ( the_taxidermistatyahoo.com ) 68.116.65.86
\nNot as uncommon as you might think!
\nI do about 30 to 35 goats a year and probably 1\/3
\nof them have extra “horns”.
\nThere is a bone knob right behind the horn that they grow over.
\nPronghorn can have extra “horns” most anywhere on their heads;
\nI have mounted a bunch with these 1″ nubs behind the ears.
\nThey usually are not any longer than the hair around them, so are not visible until you start looking the head over after the animal is down.
\nThe oddest one I ever did had a 1 1\/2″ horn on the bridge of the nose, like a rhino!<\/p>\n

\"PronghornPronghorn buck showing extra horny growths<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve seen Pronghorn with deformed horns<\/a><\/span>, but never anything as unique as this. I didn’t know until yesterday that Pronghorn can grow extra horny growths and although these are small they appear to be made of the same keratinous material as this buck’s regular horn sheath.<\/p>\n

You just never know what oddities you might see while wandering around photographing nature.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Pronghorn photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This image shows a side view of the Pronghorn buck’s face with the two unusual horn growths shown protruding from its muzzle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":170823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,1022,183,26],"tags":[4004,4096,4184,11978,2321,4799,11153,4062,1003,185,4855,2315,1004,1006],"class_list":["post-9198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-davis-county-utah","category-pronghorn","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-antilocapra-americana","tag-buck","tag-desert-island","tag-extra-horns","tag-horn-sheath","tag-horny-growths","tag-male","tag-odd","tag-pronghorn","tag-pronghorns","tag-summer-3","tag-unique","tag-unusual"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pronghorn-extra-horns-mia-mcpherson-0856.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-2om","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":101005,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/24\/spring-pronghorn-buck-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":9198,"position":0},"title":"Spring 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Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Misshapen Horns \u2013 Pronghorn, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pronghorn-utah-misshapen-mia-mcpherson-1324.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pronghorn-utah-misshapen-mia-mcpherson-1324.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pronghorn-utah-misshapen-mia-mcpherson-1324.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pronghorn-utah-misshapen-mia-mcpherson-1324.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pronghorn-buck-mia-mcpherson-5654.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pronghorn-buck-mia-mcpherson-5654.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pronghorn-buck-mia-mcpherson-5654.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pronghorn-buck-mia-mcpherson-5654.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6519,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/11\/06\/the-horns-of-pronghorns\/","url_meta":{"origin":9198,"position":3},"title":"The Horns of Pronghorns","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 6, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The horns of Pronghorns are composed of a permanent slender, laterally flattened blade of bone that is covered by a keratinous sheath.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pronghorn buck in horn regrowth, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pronghorn-up-close-mia-mcpherson-5860.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pronghorn-up-close-mia-mcpherson-5860.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/pronghorn-up-close-mia-mcpherson-5860.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Pronghorns are North America's fastest mammal, they can attain speeds of more than 40 miles per hour, with spurts to 70 mph and can out run almost all of their predators.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Circle of Pronghorn does, Madison County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pronghorn-antelope-does-circle-mia-mcpherson-3270.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/pronghorn-antelope-does-circle-mia-mcpherson-3270.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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