Antler

This article is about deer antlers. For other uses, see Antler (disambiguation).

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.

An advancer, among hunters, is one of the starts or branches of a buck\'s attire between the back antler and the palm (the flattened part of the antlers). In other words, it is the second branch of a buck\'s horn.

Examples of various types of antlers

Antler Resource

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Antlers

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• Deer , Moose, Elk Antlers

See also

• Abbots Bromley Horn Dance

This article incorporates content from the 1728 Cyclopaedia, a publication in the public domain.

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