Occupying a similar niche to the large and reddish Osphranter rufus in the woodlands of southern and eastern Australia, it is also referred to locally as the red kangaroo, though it is a different species.

[6] The fur is short, pale at the ventral side and grading to a reddish tan colour over the upper parts of the pelage.

The antilopine kangaroo is one of a few macropods to display sexual dimorphism, with the male being mostly a reddish colour above, and females being considerably greyer.

[6] Communication amongst the individuals includes a hissing sound, given as an alarm, a guttural coughing noise, and a softer cluck uttered by females to their young and when males are soliciting a mate.

The population in Queensland is geographically isolated from others by an environmental barrier below the gulf of Carpentaria, and a second and third clade are weakly distinguishable in the Northern Territory and Kimberley.

[8] The habitat preferred by O. antilopinus is tropical, with perennial grasses providing forage, in vegetation occurring over lower hills and plains.

[7] The grasslands of its habitat are found in association with monsoonal eucalypts, as open or regenerating woodlands, or as the dominant vegetation of unwooded plains.

[1] This widely distributed and presumably numerous species is listed as least concern by the IUCN, noting that, while the population is assessed as declining, it did not meet the criteria of vulnerable to extinction.