Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 02071 Albacete, Spain; Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos y Montes, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 02071 Albacete, Spain; Sección de Recursos Cinegéticos y Ganaderos, Instituto de Desarrollo Regional, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 02071 Albacete, Spain.
Department of Biology, University of Hildesheim, 31141 Hildesheim, Germany.
Bone. 2019 Nov;128:115046. doi: 10.1016/j.bone.2019.115046. Epub 2019 Aug 22.
Antlers are bony appendages of deer that undergo periodic regeneration from the top of permanent outgrowths (the pedicles) of the frontal bones. Of the "less familiar" bone types whose study was advocated by John Currey to gain a better understanding of structure-function relationships of mineralized tissues and organs, antlers were of special interest to him. The present review summarizes our current knowledge about the evolution, development, structure, mineralization, and biomechanics of antlers and how their formation is affected by environmental factors like nutrition. Furthermore, the potential role of antlers as a model in bone biology and several fields of biomedicine as well as their use as a monitoring tool in environmental studies are discussed.
鹿角是鹿的骨性附肢，从额骨的永久性突起（花梗）的顶部周期性地再生。在约翰·柯里（John Currey）倡导研究的“不太熟悉”的骨骼类型中，鹿角特别引起了他的兴趣，因为它们有助于更好地理解矿化组织和器官的结构-功能关系。本综述总结了我们目前对鹿角的进化、发育、结构、矿化和生物力学的认识，以及它们的形成如何受到营养等环境因素的影响。此外，还讨论了鹿角作为骨生物学和几个生物医学领域模型的潜在作用，以及它们作为环境研究监测工具的用途。
