what are the adaptations of a reindeer

• Red noses. Some reindeer really do have a red nose — even if it is only slightly red. ...
• Color-changing eyes. One of the most magical-like adaptations is the fact that a reindeer’s eyes change from golden to blue in the winter.
• Reindeer feet and fur. The reindeer’s feet also change with the season. Each winter, the foot pad is surrounded by fur. ...
• Temperature regulation. This incredibly thick and efficient fur does a great job at protecting the reindeer from cold. ...

Full Answer

How do reindeer adapt to their environment?

Variety in temperature and changes in light between summer and winter months are the common environmental circumstances that call for adaptation. With the approach of winter, the reindeer start to put on a lot of body fat and also their coats fill out, in color changing from brown to white.

What are the characteristics of a reindeer?

It is a medium to large species of deer. Like many of the animals living in cold climates its outermost extremities are reduced in size. A Reindeer’s ears and tail are small to prevent excessive loss of heat. The body is solid and muscular but the legs are short, giving Rangifer tarandus a stocky, compact appearance.

Why do reindeer have long fur?

For example, male Rangifer tarandus develop a thick layer of fat beneath the skin that helps store energy and provides insulation. The fur of a Reindeer’s feet is especially long, and it acts like treads beneath their hooves. This allows Reindeer to maintain a firm grip on slippery and icy surfaces.

Why do reindeer have deciduous antlers?

Unlike all other cervid species, both male and female reindeer annually grow deciduous antlers. Furthermore, reindeer are the only fully domesticated species among the Cervidae. However, little is known about the underlying genetic causes of these traits.

What special features do reindeer have?

Reindeer are the only deer species to have hair completely covering their nose. Their specialized nose helps to warm incoming cold air before it enters their lungs, and it's also an excellent sniffer. Their good sense of smell helps the reindeer find food hidden under snow, locate danger, and recognize direction.

How do reindeers adapt in the winter?

A soft wool under-layer lies against its skin. Long, hollow “guard hairs" form the top layer. Air inside the guard hairs traps heat close to the body, keeping the reindeer warm even in the frigid, windy temperatures of the tundra.

What are 2 ways that reindeer protect themselves?

Reindeer use their antlers to defend themselves against predators. They also stay together in herds for protection.

How do reindeer adapt to their changing habitat?

The bodies of Svalbard reindeer are extremely well adapted to their arctic home at 79 degrees N latitude. As the northernmost reindeer population on the planet, they are thick and round, which makes it easier for them to tolerate the cold.

Can reindeer swim?

Reindeer are great swimmers! That buoyant coat also acts as a kind of natural life jacket, and keeps them warm in the freezing waters. They swim strongly across rough, wide rivers and icy expanses of ocean. They can swim up to six miles per hour.

Why do reindeer click?

Reindeer make a clicking sound when they walk, and not just when up on a housetop. Tendons snap over sesamoid bones in their feet, and that's what makes the click. Experts think the clicking helps the members of a herd stay in contact, especially in snowstorms or, say, when it's foggy.

Are Santa's reindeer male or female?

Surprise! Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and yes, even Rudolph, are ladies.

Do reindeers get scared?

Physical Traits — Reindeer are shy animals just as other members of the deer family, but their shyness is offset by their curiosity. In difficult terrain they will occasionally come up to humans.

How strong is a reindeer?

Reindeer are powerful endurance runners. They can sprint at speeds of almost 50 miles per hour, but can travel at 20 miles per hour for extended periods.

What do reindeer use their antlers for?

Caribou (also known as reindeer) use their antlers to scrape away snow and soil to find food, as well as to defend themselves. Both male and female caribou have antlers, making them the only deer species in which females have antlers!

Can reindeer Run on ice?

Having hairy hooves may look funny, but they give reindeer a good grip when walking on frozen ground, ice, mud, or snow. Spongy footpads help them walk in marshy fields, and in winter, their hooves harden so they can dig into the ice or snow and keep from slipping.

Can reindeers climb mountains?

Their front hooves provide them with the ability of digging craters to expose buried food. In warm weather they climb up mountain slopes to enjoy the cool snow of the high altitudes. Reindeer are able to communicate with one another vocally, visually, and chemically!

Do reindeers turn white in winter?

Variety in temperature and changes in light between summer and winter months are the common environmental circumstances that call for adaptation. With the approach of winter, the reindeer start to put on a lot of body fat and also their coats fill out, in color changing from brown to white.

How do reindeer find food in winter?

In the winter, reindeer dig lichen out from under the snow for food. Reindeer weight fluctuates throughout the year in accordance with the seasons. Once spring comes along in the tundra (around April) and plant life returns, herbivorous reindeer can graze to their hearts' content.

What do reindeer use their antlers for?

Caribou (also known as reindeer) use their antlers to scrape away snow and soil to find food, as well as to defend themselves. Both male and female caribou have antlers, making them the only deer species in which females have antlers!

Do reindeers live in cold places?

Known as caribou in North America, reindeer live in very cold regions such as Alaska and Scandinavia. They can also be found in Scotland following a reintroduction in the Cairngorms.

What do reindeer do in winter?

During the long winters in the Nordic countries, food is scarse. The large, flat hooves serve the mature reindeer as snowshoes, with an added on seasonal change: during autumn and winter the hooves will harden, in this way enabling the animals to search for food through hard crusts of snow and ice. Considering the calves, for the most part the vulnerable segment of a herd, they lack the adaptation of the hooves to a certain degree, because they are still young. Antlers are the useful tools because they facilitate the digging for food in deep snow. Youngsters depend on their mother’s help here.

How do reindeer defend themselves?

Reindeer have two ways only to defend themselves from being attacked: running away or stabbing the attacker with their antlers. By the way, reindeer are the only deer species where both the males and the females possess antlers, an unique characteristic. Actually using those horns in a fight is not, as a rule, the female’s behaviour. The readiness comes with the mothering instinct. A predator may encounter her, in which case the female will often choose fight over flight when being pregnant. When she has a calf with her that has to be defended, such an emergency case is leaving her with limited options too for the obvious reason that the calf can not get away as quickly as needed.

When do reindeer migrate to the mountains?

It is in the Sami spring-winter season that the reindeer herds will begin the migration to the calving grounds in the mountains. Like the salmons, they return to the same area every year. A wonderful sight it is, smaller and larger groups are walking from the forests uphill until they meet on higher grounds, thousands of reindeer are on the move. Every day counts, an early spring may bring the warmth of the sunlight but also the snow turning into slush, which is an unfavourable travel condition for the reindeer. If the higher grounds have not been reached in time, the calves are born in the foothills of the mountains, with more predators around. Without stepping into the climate changes debate here, the warmer temperatures in recent years are not welcomed by everyone.

Do Rangifer tarandus live in the Arctic?

Rangifer tarandus. The arctic environment is their home, the climate adapted life cycle is their pace, having lost the circadian rhythm by force of nature. Which is neither surprising nor unnecessary considering a habitat where deep darkness exists in winter, as well as endless midsummer days. In between, it means long mosquito filled months followed by a splendid autumn before the winterblues are in the reindeer’s eyes again.

What is the adaptation of reindeer?

Reindeer have the unique adaptation amongst mammals of having an enzyme called lichenase which enables them to break down tough lichens to release glucose. Conservation status: Least Concern. Distribution: Circumpolar including many islands, native to the far north.

What do reindeer eat?

Feeding & diet: In the summer months reindeer eat sedges, grasses, herbs, ferns and mosses on the tundra. They will also eat shoots and leaves of trees when available being particularly fond of willow and birch. They have been recorded as being opportunistic carnivores eating le mmings, birds eggs and arctic char (fish).

How do reindeer interact with humans?

As a hardy large herbivore they have been herded for food and to provide the muscle for transport by circumpolar peoples of the north. They are still hunted for food and other materials such as hides, antlers and bone to make tools by a number of Inuit peoples. They are herded in particular by the Sami and Nenets, they are not fully domesticated in the way that sheep and cattle are but are semi-wild roaming on pasture in a process of nomadic herding. There was a herd introduced to the Sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia when 10 animals were landed in 1911 to provide food for whalers and sealers, this population had grown to around 6,600 by early 2014 when they were all culled due to their impact on native bird life.

Why are reindeer herds threatened?

Herds are threatened by harvesting by hunters, regional climate trends and by increased development particularly of mining and oil and gas facilities which in their turn bring in more workers who may also hunt recreationally. Reindeer have a relationship with humans going back thousands of years.

How big is a reindeer?

Average Length: 160 to 200 cm long (5.3 - 6.6 feet) plus a short tail of 14 - 20 cm (6 - 8 inches), 80 to 150cm (2.6 - 4.9 feet) tall at the shoulder. Females are smaller than males, the extent of the difference varies in the different subspecies, domesticated reindeer have shorter legs and are heavier then wild reindeer/caribou.

What are the predators of reindeer?

Predators: Reindeer are predated upon mainly by wolves which hunt them in packs, particularly in the winter. The calves in the calving season are subject to heavy pred ation, mainly by golden eagles and sea eagles, but also by wolverine and less commonly brown bears and polar bears. Distribution range of reindeer / caribou.

Where do reindeer live?

Reindeer live in areas of Arctic tundra (a cold treeless plain, frequently poorly drained) and the northern boreal forests that make up the southern edge of the tundra.

Why do reindeer have antlers?

This is thought to be because females can use the antlers to find food. In snow the antlers are used to scrape snow away from the ground, and as such they are an important feature for survival.

What do Reindeer Eat?

Reindeer have a hard life, and finding enough food to survive is one of the biggest challenges they face.

How Long do Reindeer Live?

With the exception of Rudolph and Santa’s other Reindeer (who are magical creatures and live forever), the maximum lifespan of wild living Reindeer is between 10 and 15 years.

How many reindeer are there in the world?

The herd of the Siberian tundra, known as the Taimyr Herd of Reindeer is the largest herd of wild reindeer in the world, and its numbers vary from 400,000 all the way up to 1,000,000 Reindeer . In Canada there’s a migratory herd known as the Boreal Woodland Caribou, which varies in size between 28,000 and 385,000.

Why are reindeer ears and tails small?

A Reindeer’s ears and tail are small to prevent excessive loss of heat. The body is solid and muscular but the legs are short, giving Rangifer tarandus a stocky, compact appearance.

Where do Rangifer tarandus migrate?

Many populations of Rangifer tarandus are sedentary and remain in the same place all year round. The most famous migrations occur in Alaska and Canada. Reindeer in northern Europe and Asia are less migratory in behavior.

How old do reindeer get?

The average maximum age for Reindeer is about 4 years. Beyond arctic predators, insects tend to be an often overlooked cause of early mortality among wild Reindeer.

Phylogeny and characteristics of ruminants

Ruminants are a diverse group of mammals that includes families containing well-known taxa such as deer, cows, and goats. However, their evolutionary relationships have been contentious, as have the origins of their distinctive digestive systems and headgear, including antlers and horns (see the Perspective by Ker and Yang).

Structured Abstract

Reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus) are naturally distributed across the Arctic and subarctic regions. Consequently, these animals have evolved to face numerous challenges, including exposure to severe cold, limited food availability in winter, and extremely prolonged light or dark periods.

Abstract

The reindeer is an Arctic species that exhibits distinctive biological characteristics, for which the underlying genetic basis remains largely unknown.

Reindeer genomes exhibit vitamin D–specific mutations

Although the Ruminantia is an important group of terrestrial herbivores and its members have adapted to a wide range of terrestrial habitats, R. tarandus is the only species within the Cervidae that is widely distributed across the Arctic and subarctic regions.

Reindeer-specific mutations related to fat metabolism

We further identified fixed reindeer-specific mutations in genes that play a role in fat metabolism. These genes include APOB, which participates in the transport of low-density lipoproteins, and FASN, which encodes fatty acid synthase, an essential enzyme for de novo lipogenesis ( 22) (fig. S2 and table S3).

Mutations related to female antler growth

It is believed that the growth of cervid antlers is either driven by or strongly regulated by androgens ( 24 ). Notably, the reindeer is the only cervid species in which females ( Fig.

Circadian rhythm regulation in Arctic light conditions

Reindeer experience extended daylight fluctuations and a markedly different seasonality than do cervids from temperate, subtropical, or tropical habitats ( 2, 3 ).

How do reindeer see?

Reindeer can see light with wavelengths as short as 320 nm (i.e. in the ultraviolet range), considerably below the human threshold of 400 nm. It is thought that this ability helps them to survive in the Arctic, because many objects that blend into the landscape in light visible to humans, such as urine and fur, produce sharp contrasts in ultraviolet. A specific layer of tissue in the eye of Arctic reindeer changes in color from gold in summer to blue in winter to improve their vision during times of continuous darkness, and perhaps enable them to better spot predators.

How do reindeer hooves work?

In the winter, the pads shrink and tighten, exposing the rim of the hoof, which cuts into the ice and crusted snow to keep reindeer from slipping. This also enables them to dig down (an activity known as "cratering") through the snow to their favorite food, a lichen known as reindeer lichen.

What are reindeer's coats?

Reindeer are large deer, with a thick coat that is brown during the summer, and during the winter it is gray. They have a pale colored chest and undersides, with their rump and tail being white. Males and females both have antlers, with those of males being larger and more complex. Males usually shed them after breeding, whereas females don’t do so until spring. They have specialized hooves that will adapt in relation to the season. In summer their footpads turn spongy to give extra traction, while in winter the pads tighten and shrink to expose the edge of the hoof so they can cut into the snow and ice so that they don’t slip. They have nasal turbinate bones which serve to increase the surface area in their nostrils. Cold air can thus be warmed up by their body heat prior to entering their lungs.

How do reindeer find food?

They can find food under snow, presumably by being able to smell it. They use their front hooves to dig craters to reach the food. Dominant reindeer will frequently take over the craters dug by subordinate individuals. Group name. herd, mob, gang.

When do reindeer antlers grow?

Antlers begin to grow on male reindeer in March or April and on female reindeer in May or June. This process is called antlerogenesis. Antlers grow very quickly every year on the males. As the antlers grow, they are covered in thick velvet, filled with blood vessels, and spongy in texture. The velvet that covers growing antlers is highly vascularised skin. When the antler growth is fully grown and hardened, the velvet is shed or rubbed off.

How many reindeer are there in the world?

Reindeer were some of the last animals that humans domesticated, considered by some to still not be fully tame. There are about 2.5 million domesticated reindeer in nine countries, with about 100,000 people tending to them, being approximately half the world’s total reindeer population.

How long do reindeer mate?

Dominant males control access to groups numbering 5 to 15 females. The males stop eating at this time and lose a great deal of their body reserves. Gestation lasts 210 - 240 days and a single calf is produced. Within an hour of birth, calves have the ability to walk after their mother, and at one day old they are able to run fast. The young begin to be weaned at one month, when they begin to graze, occasionally suckling from their mother up until the winter, then reaching full independence. Reindeer are sexually mature at 1 - 3 years old.

What is the importance of reindeer?

Hunting wild reindeer and herding of semi-domesticated reindeer are important to several Arctic and sub-Arctic peoples such as the Duhalar for meat, hides, antlers, milk, and transportation. The Sami people (Sápmi) have also depended on reindeer herding and fishing for centuries.

Why are reindeer herds important?

Reindeer herding has been vital for the subsistence of several Eurasian nomadic indigenous people living in the circumpolar Arctic zone as Sámi, Nenets, and Komi. Reindeer are used to provide renewable sources and reliable transportation. In Mongolia, Dukha people are known as the reindeer people. They are credited as one of the world's earliest domesticators. Dukha diet consists mainly of reindeer dairy products.

What is the name of the reindeer?

Carl Linnaeus chose the name Rangifer for the reindeer genus, which Albertus Magnus used in his De animalibus, fol. Liber 22, Cap. 268: "Dicitur Rangyfer quasi ramifer". This word may go back to the Saami word raingo. Linnaeus chose the word tarandus as the specific epithet, making reference to Ulisse Aldrovandi 's Quadrupedum omnium bisulcorum historia fol. 859–863, Cap. 30: De Tarando (1621). However, Aldrovandi and Konrad Gesner thought that rangifer and tarandus were two separate animals. In any case, the tarandos name goes back to Aristotle and Theophrastus .

How big are bull reindeer antlers?

In the largest subspecies, the antlers of large males can range up to 100 cm (39 in) in width and 135 cm (53 in) in beam length. They have the largest antlers relative to body size among living deer species. Antler size measured in number of points reflects the nutritional status of the reindeer and climate variation of its environment. The number of points on male reindeer increases from birth to five years of age and remains relatively constant from then on. "In male caribou, antler mass (but not the number of tines) varies in concert with body mass." While antlers of bull woodland caribou are typically smaller than barren-ground caribou, they can be over one metre (3') across. They are flattened, compact and relatively dense. Geist describes them as frontally emphasised, flat-beamed antlers. Woodland caribou antlers are thicker and broader than those of the barren-ground caribou and their legs and heads are longer. Quebec-Labrador bull caribou antlers can be significantly larger and wider than other woodland caribou. Central barren-ground bull caribou are perhaps the most diverse in configuration and can grow to be very high and wide. Mountain caribou are typically the most massive with the largest circumference measurements.

How many layers of fur does a caribou have?

The coat has two layers of fur: a dense woolly undercoat and longer-haired overcoat consisting of hollow, air-filled hairs. Fur is the primary insulation factor that allows reindeer to regulate their core body temperature in relation to their environment, the thermogradient, even if the temperature rises to 100 °F (38 °C). In 1913 Dugmore noted how the woodland caribou swim so high out of the water, unlike any other mammal, because their hollow, "air-filled, quill-like hair" acts as a supporting "life jacket."

Why are lichens important for reindeer?

The environmental variations play a large part in reindeer nutrition, as winter nutrition is crucial to adult and neonatal survival rates. Lichens are a staple during the winter months as they are a readily available food source, which reduces the reliance on stored body reserves. Lichens are a crucial part of the reindeer diet; however, they are less prevalent in the diet of pregnant reindeer compared to non-pregnant individuals. The amount of lichen in a diet is found more in non-pregnant adult diets than pregnant individuals due to the lack of nutritional value. Although lichens are high in carbohydrates, they are lacking in essential proteins that vascular plants provide. The amount of lichen in a diet decreases in latitude, which results in nutritional stress being higher in areas with low lichen abundance.

Why do reindeer make clicking sounds?

The frequency of the knee-clicks is one of a range of signals that establish relative positions on a dominance scale among reindeer. "Specifically, loud knee-clicking is discovered to be an honest signal of body size, providing an exceptional example of the potential for non-vocal acoustic communication in mammals." The clicking sound made by reindeer as they walk is caused by small tendons slipping over bone protuberances (sesamoid bones) in their feet . The sound is made when a reindeer is walking or running, occurring when the full weight of the foot is on the ground or just after it is relieved of the weight.

Antlers

An active layer of permafrost is the only layer of soil that can support plant life in the Arctic tundra, which lacks adequate soil layers like those seen in temperate grassland. Despite this, there are between 1700 and 2,000 plant species that survive in this soil, which is classified as Gelisol Soil.

Nose

The reindeer nose is not only furry, but it has a unique warming process going on inside. To explain, the air a reindeer breathes is heated as they inhale and cooled as they exhale, causing water vapor to condense before being released into the atmosphere. This keeps them warm and even creates a pinkish-red tinge on their noses, much like Rudolph!

Vision

The arctic tundra often lacks sunshine. Summer days last 24 hours, yet the sun remains low on the horizon. For this reason, it is known as the land of the midnight sun. During the winter, the opposite occurs, and the entire landscape is dark.

Tendons and Hooves

As a reindeer walks, the tendons in the foot joint make a clicking sound. These noises help herds keep together in limited visibility. They also have two toes with large claws attached that extend outward. These hooves, as they are known, distribute their weight and provide traction.

Reindeer Population in the Arctic

Although reindeer still exist in the Arctic, their numbers have been dropping drastically over the past few decades; a 56% drop to be exact. This is because of a variety of factors, such as poaching, sickness, food shortages, and climate change. Five herds in Alaska-Canada have seen such extreme losses that recovery is unlikely.

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Migrating Herds

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