The biological obligation to propagate one\u2019s genes has driven the evolution of some of the most glorious of all biological creations.<\/p>\n

But peacocks\u2019 tails, skylarks\u2019 songs, stags\u2019 antlers and the like also have an element of the faintly ridiculous about them, too.<\/p>\n

So important are they to an animal\u2019s reproductive success \u2013 either via mate attraction or the vanquishing of rivals \u2013 that they can take on proportions that are detrimental to its very survival.<\/p>\n

More related content:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why do female reindeer grow antlers?<\/a><\/p>\n

How to identify deer antlers<\/a><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the difference between horns and antlers?<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p><\/div> <\/section>

Little surprise that most deer shed them at the end of the rutting season<\/a> and grow new ones ready for the next.<\/p>\n

This is one way in which antlers differ from the horns of antelope and cattle, which are permanent fixtures.<\/p>\n

They are also built of different stuff: antlers<\/a> are made of bone; horns<\/a> consist mostly of keratin, like hair and fingernails.<\/p>\n

Antlers can also confer other benefits, beyond the world of sexual competition.<\/p>\n

The dish-like headgear of moose double as hearing aids, amplifying sound and focusing it on the ears.<\/p>\n

Main image: A red deer stag\u2019s antlers are used to attract mates and defeat rivals during the rutting season. \u00a9 Carmen Quijada\/500px\/Getty<\/em><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n

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By Stuart Blackman Published: Tuesday, 24 January 2023 at 12:00 am The biological obligation to propagate one\u2019s genes has driven the evolution of some of the most glorious of all biological creations. But peacocks\u2019 tails, skylarks\u2019 songs, stags\u2019 antlers and the like also have an element of the faintly ridiculous about them, too. So important […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":24220,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/01\/why-deer-have-antlers-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/01\/why-deer-have-antlers-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/01\/why-deer-have-antlers-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/01\/why-deer-have-antlers-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/01\/why-deer-have-antlers-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/01\/why-deer-have-antlers-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/01\/why-deer-have-antlers-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Stuart Blackman Published: Tuesday, 24 January 2023 at 12:00 am The biological obligation to propagate one\u2019s genes has driven the evolution of some of the most glorious of all biological creations. But peacocks\u2019 tails, skylarks\u2019 songs, stags\u2019 antlers and the like also have an element of the faintly ridiculous about them, too. So important…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/24219"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}