Abstract
ANTLERS are classically regarded as the weapons and insignia of male deer (Cervidae, Mammalia). Their use in sexual display and fighting, defence against predators, digging and parting undergrowth has been described, but Darling1 and other critical observers have questioned their significance in these roles; neither shape and dimensions of antlers, nor the physiological expense of annual shedding and replacement, seem justified by the functions usually ascribed to them. Recent work on antlers of red deer (Cervus elaphus), and reinterpretation of earlier anatomical studies, now suggest that antlers are important variable heat radiators during their growth, which occurs annually in the months of spring and summer fattening preceding the rut. Thermoregulation may thus be the function which primarily determines the form and proportions of antlers, and necessitates their annual renewal.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Darling, F. F., A Herd of Red Deer (Natural History Library edition, Doubleday and Co., Inc., New York, 1964).
Wislocki, G. B., Amer. J. Anat., 71, 371 (1942).
Wislocki, G. B., in Essays in Biology in Honor of Herbert M. Evans, 631 (Univ. California Press, Berkeley, 1943).
Wislocki, G. B., Aub, J. C., and Waldo, C. M., Endocrinology, 40, 202 (1947).
Robinson, R. M., Thomas, J. W., and Marburger, R. G., J. Wildlife Man., 29 (1), 53 (1965).
Lydekker, R., The Deer of All Lands (Ward, London, 1898).
Murie, O. J., The Elk of North America (Stackpole Co., Pennsylvania, and Wildlife Management Institute, Washington, 1951).
Cowan, R. L., and Long, T. A., Proc. First Nat. White-tailed Deer Disease Symposium, 54 (1962).
Jaczewski, Z., Zurowski, W., and Zaniewski, L., Trans. Fifth Cong. Intern. Union of Game Biologists, 115 (1961).
Taylor, C. R., Physiol. Zool., 39 (2), 127 (1966).
Taylor, C. R., thesis, Harvard Univ. (1963).
Huxley, J. S., Problems of Relative Growth (Methuen, London, 1932).
Riney, T., Trans. Roy. Soc. New Zealand, 82 (2), 569 (1954).
Wood, A. J., Cowan, I. McT., and Nordan, H. C., Canad. J. Zool., 4 (4), 593 (1962).
Riney, T., New Zealand J. Sci. Tech., B, 36 (4), 429 (1955).
Taber, R. D., White, K. L., and Smith, N. S., Proc. Montana Acad. Sci., 19, 72 (1959).
Kiddie, D. G., The Sika Deer (Cervus nippon) in New Zealand (New Zealand Forest Service Information Series No. 44, 1962).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
STONEHOUSE, B. Thermoregulatory Function of Growing Antlers. Nature 218, 870–872 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/218870a0
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/218870a0
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Systematic revision of the endemic deerHaploidoceros n. gen.mediterraneus (Bonifay, 1967) (Mammalia, Cervidae) from the Middle Pleistocene of Southern France
Paläontologische Zeitschrift (2008)
-
Antlers, body size and breeding group size in the Cervidae
Nature (1980)
-
Vasomotor Responses in the Growing Antlers of the Reindeer, Rangifer tarandus
Nature (1969)
-
Antlers—The Bones of Contention
Nature (1969)
-
Horn-like Structures as Rank Symbols, Guards and Weapons
Nature (1968)