Female caribou grow antlers as a built-in postbirthing snack (Scientific American)

[eppur_se_muova]

A recent study found an unexpected benefit of female caribou antlers: they can function like a vitamin for deer that have just given birth

By Emma Gometz edited by Andrea Thompson

Caribou, large deer that are native to the northernmost parts of the world (and sometimes called reindeer), are the only deer whose females grow antlers. In a study published today, researchers observed behavior that might explain why: female caribou appear to gnaw on shed antlers as a kind of postbirthing supplement.
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The researchers behind the new study figured this out when they observed bite marks in more than 80 percent of the 1,500 caribou antlers that littered the part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Alaska where the deer give birth.

“[Caribou] are just really going after the antlers. They are highly selective,” says study co-author Joshua Miller, a paleoecologist at the University of Cincinnati.

Female caribou shed their antlers just days before giving birth. Miller and co-author Madison Gaetano, a conservation paleobiologist, say that the findings suggest that female caribou are essentially banking nutrients in the form of antlers before they give birth and then gnawing on their freshly shed antlers to get a boost of protein, calcium and phosphorus they need to make up for having less time to graze as they nurse their calves.
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more (shortish article): https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/female-caribou-grow-antlers-as-a-built-in-postbirthing-snack/

longer article, w/more pro/con discussion: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/caribou-are-the-only-deer-species-in-which-females-grow-antlers-scientists-just-figured-out-the-clever-reason-why-180988256/



In late December, males have already shed their antlers, while females have not. So the reindeer shown hauling Santa's sleigh -- including Rudolph -- ought to be all female, barring the dispensation of "it's magic !".