Since the first drawings left on walls of ancient caves, human beings have been fascinated with that unique phenomenon of the animal kingdom, the presence of horns and antlers. From the mythical ''unicorn'' exercising the power over life and death to the perceived aphrodisiacal and other medical properties of rhinoceros horns and growing antlers, these conspicuous protuberances have had a significant place in the history of mankind. Part of that ancient interest in antlers and horns was due to their value as sym bols of masculinity; this interest persists today in trophy hunting, an honorable tradition carried on for centuries in many countries of the world. This book, which deals with evolution, morphology, physiology, and behavior, has not been devised as a comprehensive review of the subject of horns, prong horns, and antlers; rather, it is a series of chapters stimulating thoughts, discus sions, and initiation of new studies. As editors, we did not interfere with the content of articles nor with the opin ions and interpretations of our contributors, and we left them to decide whether to accept the suggestions of our reviewers. Despite the fact that various aspects of cranial appendages have been studied since the end of the eighteenth century, many controversial views still exist, as witnessed in various chapters of this book.

The horns, antlers, and pronghorns of male ungulates have garnered human interest through time. Males of most ungulate species require many years before producing their largest weapons. Given the life-history constraints of wild ungulates, wildlife managers have increasingly been faced with a tradeoff between hunter opportunity and the production of large-weaponed males as they set management objectives and harvest limits of big-game populations. Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) however; possess a suite of life-history traits resulting in a precocious, faster pace-of-life relative to other ungulates. If the precocious nature of pronghorn extends to their horn growth characteristics, there may be greater flexibility to balance hunter opportunity and production of large-horned males for pronghorn as compared with other ungulates. We tested the hypothesis that the precocious nature of pronghorn would extend to their horn growth characteristics and lessen or eliminate the hunter opportunity and horn size tradeoff as compared with other ungulate species. We collected horn size, age, and remotely sensed climate data from 1,805 harvested male pronghorn from 2019-2022 in southern and central Wyoming, USA. We also simulated harvested populations of pronghorn and two other ungulate species to evaluate our predictions across species. Pronghorn attained 95% of their peak horn size by 3.5 years old. The remarkable fast pace of horn growth in pronghorn creates a framework that greatly reduces the tradeoff between hunter opportunity and horn size found in other ungulate species, leading to a unique opportunity for managers to balance both hunter opportunity and large horns in pronghorn management regimes.

Originally published: New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1942.

Explore how animals use antlers and horns.

Describes the physical characteristics, habits, and habitats of Pronghorn antelope.

This book is designed as a source and reference for people interested in the history and fossil record of North American tertiary mammals. Each chapter covers a different family or order, and includes information on anatomical features, systematics, the distribution of the genera and species at different fossil localities, and a discussion of their paleobiology. Many of these groups have never been covered in this fashion before.