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He’s pretty young. Maybe his horn will grow out more? The article said that one horned deers are not unheard of.
it kinda makes me sad to see an animal with such a mutation . I hope our stupid speices isnt to blame with all the polution 🙁 .. i know im a thread killer sorry
I think there have always been oddities in nature. Take albinos for example. Albino horses have been around for a long time. I agree we are messing up the planet big time, but even if we weren’t we’d still see the occasional anomaly like this little deer. He’s a cutie. Thanks for sharing GB!!! 😉
Necron99 wrote:it kinda makes me sad to see an animal with such a mutation . I hope our stupid speices isnt to blame with all the polution 🙁 .. i know im a thread killer sorry
Anomalies can be the result of two major things – toxins in the womb (what you’re saying) or genetic. Chances are this is a freak mutation, which occur, one in every… 10 000 generations in cells? Which in reality isn’t all that much. It might be 10 000 000… I don’t remember but it seemed like a really big number.
Probably just a chance fluke, and, if it doesn’t hurt him/her then it doesn’t seem all that sad to me.
I’m sure there are other things that cause mutations, but those are the major genetic ones that change the DNA you pass on.
Greater Basilisk wrote:If that horn branches out, the deer – which I think is a female – will look even more like a kirin.
As far as my knowledge goes, but I’m not huge into deer, only female reindeer have horns… and that’s not a reindeer… so he’d have to be male.
Huh boy, of course. 🙄 😳 Somehow I had it stuck in my head that the article called the deer a “she.” Stupid me.
I think that Reindeer and Caribou are the only cervids where the females grow antlers (horns are different from antlers; horns are usually hollow and antlers are usually not hollow and are dropped and re-grown annually). However sometimes in females of species where only the male usually has antlers, rarely a female will grow them.
Let’s see if I can find some articles…
Edit:
http://laelaps.wordpress.com/2007/06/29/deer-antlers-its-not-all-about-sex/
http://www.deer-library.com/artman/publish/printer_161.shtmlVolunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comNecron99 wrote:it kinda makes me sad to see an animal with such a mutation . I hope our stupid speices isnt to blame with all the polution 🙁 .. i know im a thread killer sorry
Antlers are weird things (see the link above about how they grow). They grow quickly but there is a stage where they are very soft and prone to damage. If the animal bangs them, has a tussle with another deer, or any number of things, the antler can be damaged and when it hardens will be deformed or strange. They can even start off strange… the area where the horn grows in is just a very very modified type of follicle where special cells form. Like someone with a weird toenail or that one hair that always grows in a different color, it is possible for genetics and other factors to cause a deformed growth.
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
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