Towards the middle of summer, the antlers reach their full size and the cartilage in the antler begins to calcify. They have blood vessels, nerves, skin, cartilage and bone.Īntler growth is one of the fastest known types of tissue growth in mammals, and the only example of an organ that is shed and regrown each year. Unlike horns, which are keratinized tissue, antlers are organs. When the antlers are growing, they are soft to the touch or spongy. In just four months, elk antlers are fully developed. An elk’s antlers can grow at a rate of ¼ inch per day. Growth of antlers typically begins in spring, as testosterone levels increase in response to increasing day light. The seasonal changes in the amount of daylight ultimately control the secretion of the reproductive hormone, testosterone, in males. Testosterone plays an important part of the antler cycle. Male elk grow their first set of antlers when they hit puberty, at approximately one year of age. Thus, the size of antlers is an external demonstration of an elk’s fitness. This is because elk do not consume much calcium as part of their diet therefore, the calcium in their antlers is produced by chemical reactions in their bodies, which draws heavily on the animal’s mineral reserves. Hard antlers are comprised mostly out of calcium and phosphorus. Antlers require a great deal of nutrients and energy to grow only the healthiest elk can grow large antlers. Elk antlers are used primarily for mating purposes, to battle other male elk for mating rights.
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