Journal article

Publication year: 1995

Pages: 525-532

Journal: Annals of Anatomy

Volume number: 177

Issue number: 6

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0940-9602(11)80085-3

Publisher: Elsevier

Abstract: 

The ossification process of primary antlers was studied in five fallow
bucks aged about ten months. In the growing primary antler the following
tissue zones could be distinguished histologically in a disto-proximal
direction: a proliferative zone, a zone of cartilage maturation and
hypertrophy, a zone of cartilage mineralization and degeneration, a zone
of primary spongiosa and a zone of secondary spongiosa. Although the
strict disto-proximal zonation of tissue changes typical for
endochondral ossification of somatic cartilage was not seen in primary
antler formation, the histological and histochemical findings clearly
demonstrated that this process can be best described as a modified form
of endochondral ossification. Our study produced no evidence for a
direct (metaplastic) conversion af cartilage into bone during primary
antler development. Generally, the histogenesis of primary antlers
closely resembles the process of secondary antler growth as described by
others. Minor differences between the two processes can be ascribed to
the fact that during secondary antler formation a much bigger structure
has to be built up in an even shorter time span than in the case of
primary antler development and, therefore, the processes of cartilage
formation, cartilage destruction and bone remodelling interdigitate even
more closely during subsequent antler growth, compared to that of
primary antlers. Our study clearly revealed that the transition from
pedicle to first antler growth in fallow deer cannot be defined as a
change in the ossification pattern, as was previously assumed for
cervids in general.

Harvard Citation style: Kierdorf, H., Kierdorf, U., Szuwart, T. and Clemen, G. (1995) A light microscopic study of primary antler development in fallow deer (Dama dama), Annals of Anatomy, 177(6), pp. 525-532. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0940-9602(11)80085-3

APA Citation style: Kierdorf, H., Kierdorf, U., Szuwart, T., & Clemen, G. (1995). A light microscopic study of primary antler development in fallow deer (Dama dama). Annals of Anatomy. 177(6), 525-532. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0940-9602(11)80085-3