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Their teeth are hypsodont, and their dental formula is 0.0.3.3 3.1.3.3. Unlike deer, pronghorns possess a gallbladder. [22] Each horn of the pronghorn is composed of a slender, laterally flattened blade of bone which is thought to grow from the frontal bones of the skull, or from the subcutaneous tissues of the scalp, forming a permanent core. [23]
Horns are not shed and their bony cores are covered with a thick, persistent sheath of horny material, both of which distinguish them from antlers. [ 12 ] Antelope horns are efficient weapons, and tend to be better developed in those species where males fight over females (large herd antelope) than in solitary or lekking species.
Their horns resemble those of the bovids, in that they have a true horny sheath, but, uniquely, they are shed outside the breeding season, and subsequently regrown. Their lateral toes are even further diminished than in bovids, with the digits themselves being entirely lost, and only the cannon bones remaining.
Horns usually have a curved or spiral shape, often with ridges or fluting. In many species, only males have horns. Horns start to grow soon after birth and continue to grow throughout the life of the animal (except in pronghorns, which shed the outer layer annually, but retain the bony core). Partial or deformed horns in livestock are called scurs.
The other major difference is that antlers undergo an annual cycle of shedding and growth, whereas horns are normally kept for the animal’s entire lifespan (though the pronghorn is an exception ...
The most desirable antlers have been found soon after being shed. The value is reduced if they have been damaged by weathering or being gnawed by small animals. A matched pair from the same animal is a very desirable find but often antlers are shed separately and may be separated by several miles.
The growth and loss of antlers for most species of deer coincide closely with rutting season. In reindeer, males will begin growing their antlers in February and shedding them in November or December.
Each "horn" of the pronghorn is composed of a slender, laterally flattened blade of bone that grows from the frontal bones of the skull, forming a permanent core. As in the Giraffidae, skin covers the bony cores, but in the pronghorn it develops into a keratinous sheath that is shed and regrown on an annual basis.