Antler Combat
in Red Deer (Cervus elaphus)
Antlers are
a secondary sex characteristic of male deer (Cervidae). The exception is that
both male and female caribou (Rangifer tarandus) have
antlers. Antlers in several species of deer are used in agonistic
displays that establish social dominance among males that
provides access to females.
Contrary to what
is often taught, deer first evolve in colder regions of the Old
World as large-bodied animals with large antlers (cf. Irish Elk
(Megaloceros), Moose (Alces alces), and Caribou (Rangifer
tarandus)). Upon migration to the New World and movement
southward to more temperate and tropical zones, antlers became
reduced in size, in several species of miniature South American
deer as 'spikes'. The one species of antlerless deer (Capreolus)
is a derived form, rather than a model for the ancestor of all
deer.