Factors affecting antler investment in Iberian red deer

Abstract

<jats:p>Antler constitutes such a costly trait that the skeleton of the deer undergoes a process similar to osteoporosis to meet the high demands of mineral deposition in the antler. The allometric relationship between antler and body size is one of the oldest known. However, no study has assessed the proportion that antlers constitute with regard to the skeleton (from which most of the material is drawn), nor which factors influence this investment. To assess this, we studied 171 males (aged 1–5 years), determined their antler and bodyweights and scored their body condition. Then we calculated antler investment as antler weight relative to estimated skeletal weight. Results showed that antler investment in males ≥2 years old (i.e. excluding yearlings) depended on age rather than the whole bodyweight or body condition. Antler investment increased from 6% in yearlings to 35% in 5-year-old males, with a mean of 19%. A GLMM showed that in males ≥2 years old, within age, the heavier the male and the better the body condition at the start of antler growth, the greater the investment in antlers. In yearlings, antler investment did not depend on bodyweight or body condition. In conclusion, antler weight relative to skeleton weight is a good method to assess antler investment. This investment is influenced by age and, in males ≥2 years old, also by bodyweight or condition at the start of antler growth.</jats:p>

The structure of pedicle and hard antler bone in the European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus): a light microscope and backscattered electron imaging study

“…During the short lifespan of the antlers, a large amount of bone has to be mineralized. Thus, in adult red deer stags (≥ 3 years old), dry antler weight accounted for 28% of total skeletal weight (Gomez et al 2012). The resulting high calcium and phosphorus demand for antler mineralization is partly met by mobilization from the skeleton (Meister, 1956;Banks et al 1968;Baxter et al 1999).…”

Inter-Specific Differences in the Structure and Mechanics but not the Chemical Composition of Antlers in Three Deer Species

“…The rate of mineralization of antlers is faster than in any other animal tissue (Wolfe 1982, Gómez et al 2013. Antlers are cast every year, even if they constitute up to an astonishing 35% of the skeleton weight of adult red deer (Cervus elaphus: 24% mean value; Gómez et al 2012).…”

Seasonal flooding effects on deer in the Mississippi river batture

“…Although winter flooding apparently provided long‐term benefits from silt deposition, winter flooding did not negatively affect current‐year antler growth. The post‐rut period is a critical time for males, which commonly lose >20% of body mass during the mating season (Strickland et al , Foley et al ), and antler growth may be correlated with body condition during the period of initiation (Gaspar‐López et al , Gómez et al , Dryden ). Supplemental feeding is legal in Louisiana and Mississippi and may have been a factor mitigating flooding effects.…”

“…Although winter flooding apparently provided long-term benefits from silt deposition, winter flooding did not negatively affect current-year antler growth. The post-rut period is a critical time for males, which commonly lose >20% of body mass during the mating season (Strickland et al 2017, Foley et al 2018, and antler growth may be correlated with body condition during the period of initiation (Gaspar-López et al 2010, Gómez et al 2012, Dryden 2016 Figure 6. Long-term trends for A) harvest rate, B) yearling female dressed body mass (with SE bars), and C) proportion of property planted in soybeans for 61 properties in the Mississippi River Batture region, USA, 1994-2016.…”