Abstract
“IF stags be mutilated,” wrote Aristotle1, “when, by reason of their age, they have as yet no horns, they never grow horns at all; if they be mutilated when they have horns, the horns remain unchanged in size, and the animal does not lose them.” What Aristotle already knew, other biologists confirmed centuries later2, and today we know that if an adult deer is castrated in the autumn or winter after the velvet has been shed, its bony antlers are lost within several weeks and replaced by new ones that are retained permanently in velvet. Such “castrate antlers” will continue to undergo annual increments of growth, and may eventually develop into very grotesque headpieces, or “perukes”. Only by administering testosterone or oestrogen can the velvet be induced to peel off and the antlers shed3.
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References
Aristotle, Historia Animalum, English translation by Thompson, D'A. W., 631 (Clarendon Press, Oxford).
Tandler, J., and Grosz, S., Die Biologischen Grundlagen der Sekundaren Geschlechtscharaktere, 31 (Springer, Berlin, 1913). Goss, R. J., in Mechanisms of Hard Tissue Destruction (edit. by Sognnaes, R. F.), 339 (AAAS Publication No. 75, Washington, 1963).
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Goss, R. J., J. Embryol. Exp. Morphol., 9, 342 (1961); Advances in Biology of Skin (edit. by Montagna, W., and Billingham, R. E.), 5, 194 (Pergamon Press, London, 1964).
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GOSS, R. Inhibition of Growth and Shedding of Antlers by Sex Hormones. Nature 220, 83–85 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/220083a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/220083a0
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