This is a book about one of nature's most remarkable accomplishments. When deer grow antlers they are actually regenerating anatomically complex appendages - something that no other mammal can do. The rate at which antler elongate makes them the fastest growing structures in the animal kingdom. Profoundly affected by male hormones, these secondary sex characters grow into massive tumors if the deer possessing them is castrated. These and other unique characteristics have made antlers the focus of extensive scientific research that addresses some provocative questions: From what tissues do antlers develop? By what morphogenetic mechanisms are they regenerated every year? What social functions prompted their initial evolution? How are they influenced by hormones, and by the seasonal daylength fluctuations that regulate their annual replacement cycles? These and many other questions are considered in this comprehensive account of antlerology.
Students of development, evolution, and behavior will find much to appreciate in this volume, as will ecologists, wildlife biologists, and zookeepers. It is a rich source of information for endocrinologists and physiologists interested in the relationship of antlers to the reproductive cycle. The orthopedists will find the study of antlers a valuable model of skeletal growth and bone disease, and the purported medicinal properties of velvet antlers will be a subject of interest to the pharmacologist.
Deer Antlers: Regeneration, Function, and Evolution is as scientifically accurate as it is readable. It does not answer all questions about these unique appendages, but it is certain to arouse curiosity about the many unsolved problems of how antlers grow, die, and are shed in the course of a single year.

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Preface
1 Introduction
Text
General References
2 The Diversity of Deer
Fallow Deer
Red Deer
Sika Deer
Sambar
Barasingha, or Swamp Deer
Eld's Deer, or Thamin
Schomburgk's Deer
Rusa Deer
Hog Deer
Axis Deer, or Chital
Père David's Deer, or Mi-lu
Muntjac
Tufted Deer
Musk Deer
Chinese Water Deer
Roe Deer
Wapiti, or American Elk
Moose
Reindeer and Caribou
White-Tailed, Black-Tailed, and Mule Deer
Brockets
Pampas Deer
Marsh Deer
Huemul
Pudu
Cervid Classification
References
3 Horns and Tusks
How Horns Grow
The Improbable Pronghorn
The Histogenesis of Horns
Tusks
References
4 The Evolution of Deer
Fur-Covered Horns
Nondeciduous "Antlers"
The Earliest Antlers
The World's Largest Deer
Continent without Deer
Deer in the Americas
Recapitulation
References
5 The Social Significance of Antlers
Rutting Behavior
Phylogeny of Function
Why the Velvet Is Shed
Theories of Antler Casting
Ultimate Explanations
References
6 A Fawn's First Antlers
Pedicle Development
Antlerogenic Transformation
Fawns versus Yearlings
Photoperiod and Hormones
Histogenesis
References
7 Developmental Anatomy of Antlers
Antler Casting
Histogenesis
Wound Healing
The Nature of Velvet
Zones of Differentiation
Chondrification
Ossification
Systemic Effects of Antler Ossification
Vascularization
Innervation
References
8 Regeneration
Modes of Growth
The Spectrum of Regeneration
Mechanism of Blastema Production
Epimorphic Regeneration in Mammals
Strategy and Prospects
References
9 Abnormal Antlers
Genetic Effects
Systemic Influences
Injuries in Velvet
Pedicle Wounds
Do Nerves Affect Antler Development?
Nonexistent Mistakes
Horn Abnormalities
References
10 The Case of the Asymmetric Antlers
The Prevalence of Asymmetry
Is Asymmetry Genetic?
The Brow Tine Mystery
References
11 Light and Latitude
Reversed Seasons
Frequency Changes
The Role of Latitude
The Tropical Paradox
Circannual Rhythms
References
12 Internal Influences
Testosterone
Estrogen
Progesterone
Pituitary Hormones
Adrenal Steroids
Thyroid Hormone
The Effects of Pinealectomy
Nutrition versus Genetics
References
13 Castration
Methods and Degrees of Emasculation
The Castrate Antler
The Antleroma: A Model for Tumor Growth?
Antlers and Cancer
References
14 Antlered Does and Antierless Bucks
Reindeer and Caribou
Incidence of Female Antlers
The Fertility of Antlered Does
Experimental Induction of Female Antlers
The Absence of Antlers in Males
References
15 Medicinal Uses of Antlers
Historical
The Antler Business
Harvesting and Preparation
Prescriptions
Scientific Investigations
Ethical Pros and Cons
References
Index