Antelope, common name applied to a large group of hollow-horned ruminants belonging to the same family as cattle, goats, and sheep. The group comprises about 150 species, of which most are found in Africa and the remainder in Asia. No true antelope is native to the Americas. The closest relative in the United States is the Rocky Mountain goat, known as a goat antelope because it has structural characteristics of both the goat and the antelope.

Antelope range in size from the tiny royal antelope, which stands about 25 cm (about 10 in) high at the shoulder, to the giant eland, sometimes about 1.8 m (about 5.9 ft) in height and weighing up to about 680 kg (about 1500 lb). The corkscrew horns of a large African antelope, the kudu, grow up to about 1.5 m (about 5 ft) in length. Unlike the deer, which they resemble in body and in habits, antelope have unbranched, hollow horns that are never shed. Antelope are generally swift, and some species are the fastest of the quadrupeds, attaining speeds of 97 km/hr (60 mph). Antelope are often brilliantly colored and may live in open plains, marshes, deserts, or forests, according to the species. Some are solitary, but many species travel in herds.