Antler development in reindeer in relation to age and sex
Yearling male and adult female reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) are similar in size and shape. If sexual clues are hidden, it can be difficult to distinguish between them. Antlers can be a useful aid in classifying yearling males and adult females, depending on whether specific antler character...
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Septentrio Academic Publishing
2002
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.7557/2.22.1.692 https://doaj.org/article/b2d367f96c824d519836bcd0330f20cb |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:b2d367f96c824d519836bcd0330f20cb 2023-05-15T18:04:01+02:00 Antler development in reindeer in relation to age and sex Amund Høymork Eigil Reimers 2002-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.7557/2.22.1.692 https://doaj.org/article/b2d367f96c824d519836bcd0330f20cb EN eng Septentrio Academic Publishing https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/692 https://doaj.org/toc/1890-6729 doi:10.7557/2.22.1.692 1890-6729 https://doaj.org/article/b2d367f96c824d519836bcd0330f20cb Rangifer, Vol 22, Iss 1 (2002) reindeer antler characteristic classification Norway Rangifer Animal culture SF1-1100 article 2002 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.7557/2.22.1.692 2022-12-31T04:07:33Z Yearling male and adult female reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) are similar in size and shape. If sexual clues are hidden, it can be difficult to distinguish between them. Antlers can be a useful aid in classifying yearling males and adult females, depending on whether specific antler characteristics are identifiable for these two groups. We recorded antler characteristics in a domestic reindeer herd (Vågå) and found considerable overlap in antler height, width and circumference between the different age and sex groups. Total tines and number of tine split-offs are use¬ful for the field biologist when discriminating among adult females, yearling males and 2.5 year-old males. For example, when using the tine split-offs with the suggested classification, 79% of the observed adult females and 76% of the yearling males were classified correctly. The antler height, width and circumference provide other biological dif¬ferences between groups, but are not easy to use to identify free ranging reindeer. This is due to the great overlap in antler size between the groups and measuring difficulties in a field study situation. Male and female calves have very similar antlers, and only the antler width is possible for sex discrimination, giving 67% accuracy of discriminating between these two groups. Article in Journal/Newspaper Rangifer Rangifer tarandus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Norway Rangifer 22 1 75 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
reindeer antler characteristic classification Norway Rangifer Animal culture SF1-1100 |
spellingShingle |
reindeer antler characteristic classification Norway Rangifer Animal culture SF1-1100 Amund Høymork Eigil Reimers Antler development in reindeer in relation to age and sex |
topic_facet |
reindeer antler characteristic classification Norway Rangifer Animal culture SF1-1100 |
description |
Yearling male and adult female reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) are similar in size and shape. If sexual clues are hidden, it can be difficult to distinguish between them. Antlers can be a useful aid in classifying yearling males and adult females, depending on whether specific antler characteristics are identifiable for these two groups. We recorded antler characteristics in a domestic reindeer herd (Vågå) and found considerable overlap in antler height, width and circumference between the different age and sex groups. Total tines and number of tine split-offs are use¬ful for the field biologist when discriminating among adult females, yearling males and 2.5 year-old males. For example, when using the tine split-offs with the suggested classification, 79% of the observed adult females and 76% of the yearling males were classified correctly. The antler height, width and circumference provide other biological dif¬ferences between groups, but are not easy to use to identify free ranging reindeer. This is due to the great overlap in antler size between the groups and measuring difficulties in a field study situation. Male and female calves have very similar antlers, and only the antler width is possible for sex discrimination, giving 67% accuracy of discriminating between these two groups. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Amund Høymork Eigil Reimers |
author_facet |
Amund Høymork Eigil Reimers |
author_sort |
Amund Høymork |
title |
Antler development in reindeer in relation to age and sex |
title_short |
Antler development in reindeer in relation to age and sex |
title_full |
Antler development in reindeer in relation to age and sex |
title_fullStr |
Antler development in reindeer in relation to age and sex |
title_full_unstemmed |
Antler development in reindeer in relation to age and sex |
title_sort |
antler development in reindeer in relation to age and sex |
publisher |
Septentrio Academic Publishing |
publishDate |
2002 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.7557/2.22.1.692 https://doaj.org/article/b2d367f96c824d519836bcd0330f20cb |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
Rangifer Rangifer tarandus |
genre_facet |
Rangifer Rangifer tarandus |
op_source |
Rangifer, Vol 22, Iss 1 (2002) |
op_relation |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/692 https://doaj.org/toc/1890-6729 doi:10.7557/2.22.1.692 1890-6729 https://doaj.org/article/b2d367f96c824d519836bcd0330f20cb |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7557/2.22.1.692 |
container_title |
Rangifer |
container_volume |
22 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
75 |
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1766175262950555648 |