Antler

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

fallow antler

For the poet laureate of Milwaukee, see Antler (poet).

"Antler" redirects here. For the North Dakota border town, see Antler, North Dakota.

"Antlers" redirects here. For the American city, see Antlers, Oklahoma.

Antlers are the large and complex horn-like appendages of male deer and of both sexes of other related species such as caribou. They consist of bony outgrowths from the head with no covering of keratin as is found in true horns. Each antler grows from an attachment point on the skull called a pedicle. While an antler is growing it is covered with highly vascular skin called velvet, which supplies oxygen and nutrients to the growing bone; once the antler has achieved its proper size, the velvet is lost and the antler's bone dies. This dead bone structure is the mature antler. Antlers shed after each mating season.

[edit] Examples of various types of antlers

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Antlers

Geweih eines Riesenhirsches.jpg Irish Elk	Luchik-the-Moose-and-Dr-Minaev-hp3188.jpg Moose	Nordamerikanisches Rentier.jpg Reindeer	RedDeerCaithness.jpg Red Deer
White-tailed deer.jpg White-tailed deer	Dama dama8.JPG Fallow deer	Wapiti.Nebraska.JPG Elk or Wapiti	Bristol.zoo.southern.pudu.arp.jpg Pudú
Elk antlers.jpg Arch Made of Elk Antlers