Thompsons Gazelle with strange antlers
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by
seabear
This gazelle has strange looped antlers. Is that normal?
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by
katieofoz
They are odd! I found one earlier with one horn, but those look dangerous in terms of growing into its skull.
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by
craigpacker
scientist
While male antelope use their horns to fight with other males, females primarily use their horns to fend off predators that want to eat their fawns/calves. Unless the female is much bigger than the predator, her horns are unlikely to help her protect her young. Thus, female horns are generally thinner and straighter than the horns of males -- and females of smaller species are typically hornless.
Thompsons gazelle are one of the smallest species where females have horns, and the only predators they can easily chase off are vultures. Females of the much larger Grants gazelle have very well defined dagger-like horns, but about a quarter to a third of female tommies have vestigial horns.Posted
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craigpacker
scientist
"Vestigial" implies that a trait is in the process of disappearing, evolutionarily - whales have a vestigial pelvis, some snakes have vestigial legs -- so the deformed horns of many female tommies likewise appear to be "vestigial."
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