Antlers are extensions of an animal's

skull The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate. In the human, the skull comprises two prominent ...

found in members of the Cervidae (deer)

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

. Antlers are a single structure composed of

bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...

cartilage Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. Semi-transparent and non-porous, it is usually covered by a tough and fibrous membrane called perichondrium. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints ...

fibrous tissue Connective tissue is one of the four primary types of animal tissue, a group of cells that are similar in structure, along with epithelial tissue, muscle tissue, and nervous tissue. It develops mostly from the mesenchyme, derived from the mesode ...

skin Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have different ...

nerve A nerve is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of nerve fibers (called axons). Nerves have historically been considered the basic units of the peripheral nervous system. A nerve provides a common pathway for the Electrochemistry, electrochemical nerv ...

s, and

blood vessel Blood vessels are the tubular structures of a circulatory system that transport blood throughout many Animal, animals’ bodies. Blood vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to most of the Tissue (biology), tissues of a Body (bi ...

s. They are generally found only on males, with the exception of reindeer/caribou. Antlers are shed and regrown each year and function primarily as objects of

sexual attraction Sexual attraction is attraction on the basis of sexual desire or the quality of arousing such interest. Sexual attractiveness or sex appeal is an individual's ability to attract other people sexually, and is a factor in sexual selection or m ...

and as

weapons A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law ...

Etymology

Antler comes from the

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th possibly from some form of an unattested Latin word ''*anteocularis'', "before the eye" (and applied to the word for "branch" or "horn (anatomy)">horn").

Structure and development

Antlers are unique to cervids. The ancestors of deer had tusks (long upper canine tooth, canine teeth). In most species, antlers appear to replace tusks. However, one modern species (the water deer) has tusks and no antlers and the

muntjac Muntjacs ( ), also known as the barking deer or rib-faced deer, (URL is Google Books) are small deer of the genus ''Muntiacus'' native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Muntjacs are thought to have begun appearing 15–35 million years ago, ...

s have small antlers and tusks. The

musk deer Musk deer can refer to any one, or all eight, of the species that make up ''Moschus'', the only extant genus of the family (biology), family Moschidae. Despite being commonly called deer, they are not true deer belonging to the family Cervidae, b ...

, which are not true cervids, also bear tusks in place of antlers. In contrast to antlers, horns—found on

pronghorn The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American ante ...

s and bovids, such as sheep, goats, bison and cattle—are two-part structures that usually do not shed. A horn's interior of bone is covered by an exterior sheath made of

keratin Keratin () is one of a family of structural fibrous proteins also known as ''scleroproteins''. It is the key structural material making up Scale (anatomy), scales, hair, Nail (anatomy), nails, feathers, horn (anatomy), horns, claws, Hoof, hoove ...

(the same material as human fingernails and toenails). Antlers are usually found only on males. Only reindeer (known as caribou in North America) have antlers on the females, and these are normally smaller than those of the males. Nevertheless, fertile does from other species of deer have the capacity to produce antlers on occasion, usually due to increased testosterone levels. The "horns" of a

(which is not a cervid but a antilocaprid) meet some of the criteria of antlers, but are not considered true antlers because they contain

Each antler grows from an attachment point on the skull called a pedicle. While an antler is growing, it is covered with highly

vascular Vascular can refer to: * blood vessels, the vascular system in animals * vascular tissue Vascular tissue is a complex transporting tissue, formed of more than one cell type, found in vascular plants. The primary components of vascular tissue ...

skin called

velvet Velvet is a type of woven fabric with a dense, even pile (textile), pile that gives it a distinctive soft feel. Historically, velvet was typically made from silk. Modern velvet can be made from silk, linen, cotton, wool, synthetic fibers, silk ...

, which supplies oxygen and nutrients to the growing bone. Antlers are considered one of the most exaggerated cases of male secondary sexual traits in the animal kingdom, and grow faster than any other mammal bone. Growth occurs at the tip, and is initially

, which is later replaced by bone tissue. Once the antler has achieved its full size, the velvet is lost and the antler's bone dies. This dead bone structure is the mature antler. In most cases, the bone at the base is destroyed by

osteoclast An osteoclast () is a type of bone cell that breaks down bone tissue. This function is critical in the maintenance, repair, and bone remodeling, remodeling of bones of the vertebrate, vertebral skeleton. The osteoclast disassembles and digests th ...

s and the antlers fall off at some point. As a result of their fast growth rate, antlers are considered a handicap since there is an immense nutritional demand on deer to re-grow antlers annually, and thus can be honest signals of metabolic efficiency and food gathering capability. Geweihe Pierer

In most Arctic and temperate-zone species, antler growth and shedding is annual, and is controlled by the length of daylight. Although the antlers are regrown each year, their size varies with the age of the animal in many species, increasing annually over several years before reaching maximum size. In tropical species, antlers may be shed at any time of year, and in some species such as the sambar, antlers are shed at different times in the year depending on multiple factors. Some equatorial deer never shed their antlers. A 2019 study published in ''

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

'' identified eight genes active in antler formation that are normally associated with

bone cancer A bone tumor is an neoplastic, abnormal growth of tissue in bone, traditionally classified as benign, noncancerous (benign) or malignant, cancerous (malignant). Cancerous bone tumors usually originate from a cancer in another part of the body su ...

, particularly

osteosarcoma An osteosarcoma (OS) or osteogenic sarcoma (OGS) is a cancerous tumor in a bone. Specifically, it is an aggressive malignant neoplasm that arises from primitive transformed cells of mesenchyme, mesenchymal origin (and thus a sarcoma) and that exhi ...

. Additional tumor-suppressing and tumor-growth-inhibiting genes were determined to be responsible for regulating antler growth. This was taken to indicate that antler formation is more similar to a highly controlled form of cancer growth than to normal bone development. Antlers function as both weapons in male-male competition and as displays of sexual ornaments for females. Because mature antlers are no longer living during combat, antler fractures are incapable of being repaired following competition. A study in 2019 hypothesized that the periodic casting and regrowth of antlers might have evolved as a way to ensure the availability of complete antler sets to display each year. Antler regeneration in male deer ensures that every mating season begins on a clean slate, as an increase in branching size and complexity happens each regeneration cycle in an individual.

Mechanical properties

Bones typically serve a structural purpose, with load bearing abilities that are greater than any other part of an animal's body. Bones typically differ in shape and properties to better fit their overall function. Antlers are not structural and typically have different properties when compared to structural bones like femurs. While antlers are classified as bone, they differ in some ways from human bones and

bovine Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including Bos, cattle, bison, African buffalo, Bubalus, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The members of this gro ...

bones. Bone is characterized as being made up of primarily

collagen Collagen () is the main structural protein in the extracellular matrix of the connective tissues of many animals. It is the most abundant protein in mammals, making up 25% to 35% of protein content. Amino acids are bound together to form a trip ...

and a mineral phase. In antlers, the mineral content is considerably lower than other examples of bone tissue, while having a high volume of collagen. This leads antlers to having lower

yield strength In materials science and engineering, the yield point is the point on a stress–strain curve that indicates the limit of elastic behavior and the beginning of plastic behavior. Below the yield point, a material will deform elastically and w ...

and

stiffness Stiffness is the extent to which an object resists deformation in response to an applied force. The complementary concept is flexibility or pliability: the more flexible an object is, the less stiff it is. Calculations The stiffness, k, of a ...

, but higher

fracture toughness In materials science, fracture toughness is the critical stress intensity factor of a sharp Fracture, crack where propagation of the crack suddenly becomes rapid and unlimited. It is a material property that quantifies its ability to resist crac ...

when compared to human cortical bone. Mineral content differs among species and also depends on the food availability. In recent studies, increase in mineral content has been linked to the increase in stiffness with a decrease in fracture toughness. Further, bones are highly

anisotropic Anisotropy () is the structural property of non-uniformity in different directions, as opposed to isotropy. An anisotropic object or pattern has properties that differ according to direction of measurement. For example, many materials exhibit ver ...

due to their hierarchical structure. Thus, mechanical properties are highly dependent on testing conditions and directions. Due to their cylindrical shape, antlers can be tested using bending along three different orientations. Bend testing in these orientations have resulted in different mechanical properties. In samples from antler bone taken in the transverse direction, an

elastic modulus An elastic modulus (also known as modulus of elasticity (MOE)) is a quantity that describes an object's or substance's resistance to being deformed elastically (i.e., non-permanently) when a stress is applied to it. Definition The elastic modu ...

of 8.92–10.02

GPa Grading in education is the application of standardized measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), percentages, or as num ...

was reported. For the longitudinal and radial orientations, the elastic modulus was 7.19–8.23 and 4.01–4.27 GPa respectively. The transverse direction was overall found to be the stronger orientation with higher mechanical properties. The ultimate tensile strength of 262.96–274.38 MPa in the transverse direction was statistically significant when compared to the longitudinal and radial directions' values of 46.91–48.55 and 41.75–43.67 MPa. Tensile testing of antler bones has also been conducted to compare to bovine femur results. The antler samples were tested in dry and wet conditions as done in other studies. The wetness of a sample resulted in a difference in mean maximum strain: 1.46% and 2.2%, dry and wet respectively. Further, the ultimate tensile strength of wet, dry and bovine difference showed differences as well: 188 MPa, 108 MPa, and 99.2 MPa for dry, wet and bovine samples respectively. Similarly, the elastic modulus for dry samples was 17.1 GPa, 7.5 GPa for wet samples, and 17.7 GPa for bovine femur. This difference in elastic modulus is due to the difference in function of a bovine femur versus an antler. Bovine femurs must withstand greater stresses, holding up the body of the animal, whereas an antler is used for sexual selection and competition.

Function

Sexual selection

The principal means of evolution of antlers is sexual selection, which operates via two mechanisms: male-to-male competition (behaviorally, physiologically) and female

mate choice Mate choice is one of the primary mechanisms under which evolution can occur. It is characterized by a "selective response by animals to particular stimuli" which can be observed as behavior.Bateson, Paul Patrick Gordon. "Mate Choice." Mate Choi ...

. Male-male competition can take place in two forms. First, they can compete behaviorally where males use their antlers as weapons to compete for access to mates; second, they can compete physiologically where males present their antlers to display their strength and fertility competitiveness to compete for access to mates. Males with the largest antlers are more likely to obtain mates and achieve the highest fertilization success due to their competitiveness, dominance and high phenotypic quality. Whether this is a result of male-male fighting or display, or of female choosiness differs depending on the species as the shape, size, and function of antlers vary between species.

Heritability and reproductive advantage

There is evidence to support that antler size influences mate selection in the red deer, and has a heritable component. Despite this, a 30-year study showed no shift in the median size of antlers in a population of red deer. The lack of response could be explained by environmental covariance, meaning that lifetime breeding success is determined by an unmeasured trait which is phenotypically correlated with antler size but for which there is no

genetic correlation In multivariate quantitative genetics, a genetic correlation (denoted r_g or r_a) is the proportion of variance that two traits share due to genetic causes, the correlation between the genetic influences on a trait and the genetic influences on a d ...

of antler growth. Alternatively, the lack of response could be explained by the relationship between heterozygosity and antler size, which states that males heterozygous at multiple loci, including MHC loci, have larger antlers. The evolutionary response of traits that depend on heterozygosity is slower than traits that are dependent on additive genetic components and thus the evolutionary change is slower than expected. A third possibility is that the costs of having larger antlers (resource use, and mobility detriments, for instance) exert enough selective pressure to offset the benefit of attracting mates; thereby stabilizing antler size in the population.

Protection against predation

If antlers functioned only in male–male competition for mates, the best evolutionary strategy would be to shed them immediately after the rutting season, both to free the male from a heavy encumbrance and to give him more time to regrow a larger new pair. Yet antlers are commonly retained through the winter and into the spring, suggesting that they have another use.

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U ...

are 3.6 times more likely to attack individual male elk without antlers, or groups of elk in which at least one male is without antlers. Half of all male elk killed by wolves lack antlers, at times in which only one quarter of all males have shed antlers. These findings suggest that antlers have a secondary function in deterring predation.

Female antlers in reindeer

Reindeer The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, taiga, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only re ...

(''Rangifer tarandus)'' are the only cervid species that inhabit the Arctic and subarctic regions of the globe, yet their most striking distinction is the presence of pedicles after birth and antlers in both males and females. One possible reason that females of this species evolved antlers is to clear away snow so they can eat the vegetation underneath. Another possible reason is for female competition during winter foraging. Espmark (1964) observed that the presence of antlers on females is related to the hierarchy rank and is a result of the harsh winter conditions and the female dominated parental investment. Males shed their antlers prior to winter, while female antlers are retained throughout winter. Also, female antler size plateaus at the onset of puberty, around age three, while males' antler size increases during their lifetime. This likely reflects the differing life history strategies of the two sexes, where females are resource limited in their reproduction and cannot afford costly antlers, while male reproductive success depends on the size of their antlers because they are under directional sexual selection. In other species of deer, the presence of antlers in females indicates some degree of

intersex Intersex people are those born with any of several sex characteristics, including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binar ...

condition, the frequency of which has been seen to vary from 1.5% to 0.02%.

Antenna for hearing

moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

, antlers may act as large hearing aids. Equipped with large, highly adjustable external ears, moose have highly sensitive hearing. Moose with antlers have more sensitive hearing than moose without, and a study of trophy antlers with an artificial ear confirmed that the large flattened (palmate) antler behaves like a parabolic reflector.

Diversification

The diversification of antlers, body size and tusks has been strongly influenced by changes in habitat and behavior (fighting and mating).

Capreolinae

File:Caribou.jpg,

Porcupine caribou The Porcupine caribou is a herd or ecotype of the mainland barren-ground caribou (''Rangifer arcticus arcticus'', Synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''R. tarandus groenlandicus''Harding LE (2022) Available names for Rangifer (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Cervid ...

File:MuleDeer ModocCounty.jpg, A

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

with relatively large antlers File:White-tailed deer.jpg,

White-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known Common name, commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North America, North, Central America, Central and South America. It is the ...

File:Bristol.zoo.southern.pudu.arp.jpg, Pudú File:Moose superior.jpg,

Moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

Cervinae

Geweih eines Riesenhirsches.jpg, Irish elk,

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

species Red_deer_stag.jpg, Young red deer, with velvet Dama dama8.JPG, Fallow deer Wapiti.Nebraska.JPG, American elk, or wapiti Sambar deer.JPG, Sambar deer with thick, forked beams for antlers. Flickr - Rainbirder - Cheetal Stag.jpg,

Chital The chital or cheetal (''Axis axis''; ), also called spotted deer, chital deer and axis deer, is a deer species native to the Indian subcontinent. It was first described by Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben in 1777. A moderate-sized deer, mal ...

Homology and evolution of tines

Antler phylogenetics - Samejima et al 2020

Antlers originated once in the cervid lineage. The earliest fossil remains of antlers that have been found are dated to the early Miocene, about 17 million years ago. These early antlers were small and had just two forks. As antlers evolved, they lengthened and gained many branches, or tines, becoming more complex. The homology of tines has been discussed since the 1900s and has provided great insight into the evolutionary history of the Cervidae family. Recently, a new method to describe the branching structure of antlers was developed. It is by using antler grooves, which are formed on the surface of antlers by growth, projecting the branching structure on the burr circumference, and making diagrams. Comparing the positional order among species on the diagram, the tine on the same position is homologous. The study revealed that three-pointed structures of Capreolinae and Cervini are homoplasious, and their subclades gained synapomorphous tines.

Exploitation by other species

Ecological role

Discarded antlers represent a source of calcium, phosphorus and other minerals and are often gnawed upon by small animals, including squirrels, porcupines, rabbits and mice. This is more common among animals inhabiting regions where the soil is deficient in these minerals. Antlers shed in oak forest inhabited by squirrels are rapidly chewed to pieces by them.

Trophy hunting

Antlered heads are prized as

trophies A trophy is a tangible, decorative item used to remind of a specific achievement, serving as recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are most commonly awarded for sporting events, ranging from youth sports to professional level athletics. Add ...

with larger sets being more highly prized. The first organization to keep records of sizes was Rowland Ward Ltd., a London

taxidermy Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body by mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proces ...

firm, in the early 20th century. For a time only total length or spread was recorded. In the middle of the century, the Boone and Crockett Club and the Safari Club International developed complex scoring systems based on various dimensions and the number of tines or points, and they keep extensive records of high-scoring antlers. Deer bred for hunting on farms are selected based on the size of the antlers. Hunters have developed terms for antler parts: beam, palm, brow, bez or bay, trez or tray, royal, and surroyal. These are the main shaft, flattened center, first tine, second tine, third tine, fourth tine, and fifth or higher tines, respectively. The second branch is also called an advancer. In

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

in the United Kingdom roe deer hunting is especially popular due to the large antlers produced there. This is due to the high levels of chalk in Yorkshire. The chalk is high in calcium which is ingested by the deer and helps growth in the antlers.

Shed antler hunting

Gathering shed antlers or "sheds" attracts dedicated practitioners who refer to it colloquially as ''shed hunting'', or ''bone picking''. In the United States, the middle of December to the middle of February is considered shed hunting season, when deer, elk, and moose begin to shed. The North American Shed Hunting Club, founded in 1991, is an organization for those who take part in this activity. In the United States in 2017 sheds fetch around US$10 per pound, with larger specimens in good condition attracting higher prices. The most desirable antlers have been found soon after being shed. The value is reduced if they have been damaged by weathering or being gnawed by small animals. A matched pair from the same animal is a very desirable find but often antlers are shed separately and may be separated by several miles. Some enthusiasts for shed hunting use trained dogs to assist them. Most hunters will follow "game trails" (trails where deer frequently run) to find these sheds or they will build a shed trap to collect the loose antlers in the late winter/early spring. In most US states, the possession of or trade in parts of game animals is subject to some degree of regulation, but the trade in antlers is widely permitted. In the national parks of Canada, the removal of shed antlers is an offense punishable by a maximum fine of C$25,000, as the Canadian government considers antlers to belong to the people of Canada and part of the ecosystems in which they are discarded. File:Moose Antlers in Denali National Park.JPG, A shed moose antler in Denali National Park and Preserve,

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

(2010) File:Antlers found shortly after being shed by a deer in Eastern Oklahoma.jpg, Antlers found shortly after being shed by a whitetail deer in eastern

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

Carving for decorative and tool uses

Antler has been used through history as a material to make tools, weapons, ornaments, and toys. It was an especially important material in the European Late

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

, used by the

Magdalenian Magdalenian cultures (also Madelenian; ) are later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic in western Europe. They date from around 17,000 to 12,000 years before present. It is named after the type site of Abri de la Madeleine, a ro ...

culture to make carvings and engraved designs on objects such as the so-called Bâton de commandements and the '' Bison Licking Insect Bite''. In the Viking Age and medieval period, it formed an important raw material in the craft of comb-making. In later periods, antler—used as a cheap substitute for

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...

—was a material especially associated with equipment for

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

, such as saddles and horse harness, guns and daggers, powder flasks, as well as buttons and the like. The decorative display of wall-mounted pairs of antlers has been popular since medieval times at least. The Netsilik, an

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

group, made bows and arrows using antler, reinforced with strands of animal tendons braided to form a cable-backed bow. Several Indigenous American tribes also used antler to make bows, gluing tendons to the bow instead of tying them as cables. An antler bow, made in the early 19th century, is on display at

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

. Its manufacture is attributed to the Yankton Sioux. Through history large deer antler from a suitable species (e.g.

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

) were often cut down to its shaft and its lowest tine and used as a one-pointed pickax.

Ceremonial roles

Antler headdresses were worn by

shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

s and other spiritual figures in various cultures, and for dances; 21 antler "frontlets" apparently for wearing on the head, and over 10,000 years old, have been excavated at the English

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...

site of Starr Carr. Antlers are still worn in traditional dances such as

Yaqui The Yaqui, Hiaki, or Yoeme, are an Indigenous people of Mexico and Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe, who speak the Yaqui language, a Uto-Aztecan language. Their primary homelands are in Río Yaqui valley in the no ...

deer dances and carried in the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance.

Dietary usage

In the velvet antler stage, antlers of elk and deer have been used in Asia as a

dietary supplement A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement a person's diet by taking a pill (pharmacy), pill, capsule (pharmacy), capsule, tablet (pharmacy), tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients eithe ...

or alternative medicinal substance for more than 2,000 years. Recently, deer antler

extract An extract (essence) is a substance made by extracting a part of a raw material, often by using a solvent such as ethanol, oil or water. Extracts may be sold as tinctures or absolutes or dried and powdered. The aromatic principles of ma ...

has become popular among Western athletes and body builders because the extract, with its trace amounts of

IGF-1 Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), also called somatomedin C, is a hormone similar in molecular structure to insulin which plays an important role in childhood growth, and has anabolic effects in adults. In the 1950s IGF-1 was called " sulfa ...

, is believed to help build and repair

muscle tissue Muscle is a soft tissue, one of the four basic types of animal tissue. There are three types of muscle tissue in vertebrates: skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and smooth muscle. Muscle tissue gives skeletal muscles the ability to contract. ...

; however, one

double-blind In a blind or blinded experiment, information which may influence the participants of the experiment is withheld until after the experiment is complete. Good blinding can reduce or eliminate experimental biases that arise from a participants' expec ...

study did not find evidence of intended effects. Elk, deer, and moose antlers have also become popular forms of dog chews that owners purchase for their pet canines.

Shed hunting with dogs

Dogs are sometimes used to find shed antlers. The North American Shed Hunting Dog Association (NASHDA)North American Shed Hunting Dog Association
/ref> has resources for people who want to train their dogs to find shed antlers and hold shed dog hunting events.

References

External links

{{Authority control Bone products Mammal anatomy