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The Netsilik, an Inuit group, made bows and arrows using antler, reinforced with strands of animal tendons braided to form a cable-backed bow. [50] 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 ...
True horns are found mainly among: Ruminant artiodactyls. Antilocapridae ; Bovidae (cattle, goats, antelopes etc.). Giraffidae: Giraffids have a pair of skin covered bony bumps on their heads, called ossicones. Cervidae: Most deer have antlers, which are not true horns due to lacking a bone core and made of keratin.
The horns can be lethal: oryxes have been known to kill lions with them, and they are thus sometimes called sabre antelopes (not to be confused with the sable antelope). The horns also make the animals a prized game trophy, which has led to the near-extinction of the two northern species.
Reindeer have more prominent and denser antlers than whitetail deer. However, the critical difference is in sexual dimorphism. Female reindeer have antlers, while female whitetail deer don’t.
The other major difference is that antlers undergo an annual cycle of shedding and growth, whereas horns are normally kept for the animal’s entire lifespan (though the pronghorn is an exception).
Its antlers are strong enough to dig the earth for food like moss and lichen. It also uses its hoofs to break through and shovel through the snow. Little wonder its second name, caribou, means ...
Antlers are considered one of the most exaggerated cases of male secondary sexual traits in the animal kingdom, [63] and grow faster than any other mammal bone. [64] Growth occurs at the tip, initially as cartilage that is then mineralized to become bone. Once the antler has achieved its full size, the velvet is lost and the antler's bone dies.
Deer grow antlers to compete for mates and protect their territory during rutting season. The growth and loss of antlers for most species of deer coincide closely with rutting season.