The Function of the Brow-Tine in Caribou Antlers

Observations of Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus in northern Manitoba and R.t. groenlandicus-granti intergrades in northwest Alaska, show the brow-tine functioning as a protection to the buck caribou's eyes during antler-threshing, also in the forest-tundra region against the stiff twigs of will...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ARCTIC
Main Author: Pruitt, Jr., William O.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: The Arctic Institute of North America 1966
Subjects:
Animal anatomy
Animal growth
Animal nervous systems
Antlers
Caribou
Manitoba
Northern
Alaska
Arctic
caribou
Rangifer tarandus
Subarctic
Tundra
Online Access:https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/66469
Description
Summary:Observations of Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus in northern Manitoba and R.t. groenlandicus-granti intergrades in northwest Alaska, show the brow-tine functioning as a protection to the buck caribou's eyes during antler-threshing, also in the forest-tundra region against the stiff twigs of willows. Elsewhere in the arctic and subarctic, the brow-tine sometimes does not develop. The brow-tine is not fully developed until the buck's fourth or fifth year, which marks the onset of the buck's breeding activity.

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