Abstract
From 1973 until the present time, captive Reeves’ muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi) have been observed in England. The dates of casting of both antlers have been recorded for 25 bucks, totalling 121 antler cycles. All casting dates were between 1 May and 17 July (63.64 % of the cycles occurred in May, 34.71 % in June, and only 1.65 % in July). Only 13.2 % of the antler cycles were synchronous. In 45.71 % of cases, the left antler was cast 1 day or more before the right one, whereas in 54.29 % of cases, the reverse was true. For 57.14 % of cases, the time between castings of the first and second antlers was up to 3 days, and for 32.38 % of the cases, the interval was 4 to 8 days, and in 10.48 %, the difference was 9 to 13 days. All bucks cast their antlers asynchronously at least in some of the antler cycles. No external factor, which would be responsible for this, was detected. Significant variation across season has been shown with no apparent trend. Although records on subsequent seasons were available for most of the bucks, there was a zero repeatability of the process.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Acharjyo LN (1982) Observations on aspects of antler casting in captive sambar deer. In: Brown RD (ed) Antler development in Cervidae. Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Kingsville, pp 23–28
Bartoš L, Perner V (1985) Integrity of a red deer stag social group during velvet period, association of individuals, and timing of antler cleaning. Behaviour 95:314–323
Bartoš L, Perner V (1991) Asynchronous antler casting in red deer. In: Bobek B, Perzanowski WL, Regelin K (eds) Global trends in wildlife management. Transactions of the 18th IUGB Congress. Swiat Press, Krakow, pp 291–293
Bubenik GA (1982) The endocrine regulation of the antler cycle. In: Brown RD (ed) Antler development in Cervidae. Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Kingsville, pp 73–107
Chapman DI, Chapman NG (1982) The antler cycle of adult Reeves’ muntjac. Acta Theriol 27:107–114
Chapman N, Harris S, Stanford A (1994) Reeves’ Muntjac Muntiacus reevesi in Britain; their history, spread, habitat selection, and the role of human intervention in accelerating their dispersal. Mammal Rev 24:113–160
Chapman NG, Furlong M, Harris S (1997) Reproductive strategies and the influence of date of birth on growth and the sexual development of an aseasonally-breeding ungulate: Reeves’ muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi). J Zool (Lond) 241:551–570
Goss RJ (1983) Deer antlers: regeneration, function and evolution. Academic Press, London
Lessells CM, Boag PT (1987) Unrepeatable repeatabilities: a common mistake. Auk 104:116–121
Mayze RJ, Moore GI (1990) The hog deer. The Australian Deer Research Foundation Ltd, Croydon
Pei K, Foresman K, Liu B-T, Hong L-W, Yuh-Lin YJ (2009) Testosterone levels in male Formosan muntjac: uncoupling of the reproductive and antler cycles. Zool Stud 48:120–124
Sheng H (1991) The deer of China. East China Normal University Press, Shanghai
Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1981) Biometry. W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco
Tao J, Littel R, Patetta M, Truxillo C, Wolfinger R (2002) Mixed model analyses using the SAS System course notes. SAS Institute, Inc., Cary
von Raesfeld F (1970) Das Rehwild. Parey, Hamburg
Ward AI (2005) Expanding ranges of wild and feral deer in Great Britain. Mammal Rev 35:165–173
Acknowledgments
Study was partly supported by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic (MZeMZERO074).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by C. Gortázar
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chapman, N.G., Bartoš, L. The asynchronous timing of antler casting of Reeves’ muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi). Eur J Wildl Res 60, 563–565 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-014-0815-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-014-0815-2