Editing Moose (section)

== Description ==

[[File:Moose crossing river in yellowstone.jpg|thumb|upright|Crossing a river]]
On average, an adult moose stands {{convert|1.4|–|2.1|m|ftin|abbr=on|sp=us}} high at the shoulder, which is more than {{convert|1|ft|cm|order=flip}} higher than the next-largest deer on average, the [[Cervus canadensis|wapiti]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jackmanmaine.org/maine-moose.php |title=Moose Facts from Maine |publisher=Jackman, Maine Chamber of Commerce |access-date=November 27, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090903005022/http://jackmanmaine.org/maine-moose.php |archive-date=September 3, 2009 }}</ref> The tail is short (6&nbsp;cm to 8&nbsp;cm in length) and vestigial in appearance; unlike other ungulates the moose tail is too short to swish away insects.<ref>{{cite book | last = Robinson | first = Bruce | title = Mesothelioma | publisher = CRC Press | location = Boca Raton | year = 2019 | isbn = 978-1-135-28597-5 }}</ref> Males (or "bulls") normally weigh from {{convert|380|to|700|kg|lb|0|abbr=on|sp=us}} and females (or "cows") typically weigh {{convert|200|to|490|kg|lb|0|abbr=on|sp=us}}, depending on racial or clinal as well as individual age or nutritional variations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.env.gov.nl.ca/snp/Animals/moose.htm |title=Moose |publisher=Environment and Climate Change Newfoundland and Labrador |access-date=November 27, 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080102234625/http://www.env.gov.nl.ca/snp/Animals/moose.htm |archive-date = January 2, 2008}}</ref><ref>Franzmann, A. W. (1981). ''Alces alces''. Mammalian Species, 1-7.</ref> The head-and-body length is {{convert|2.4|-|3.1|m|ftin|abbr=on|sp=us}}, with the vestigial tail adding only a further {{convert|5|-|12|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on|sp=us}}.<ref>Nowak, Ronald W., ''Walker's Mammals of the World''. The Johns Hopkins University Press (1999), {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5789-8}}</ref> The largest of all the races is the Alaskan subspecies (''A. a. gigas''), which can stand over {{convert|2.1|m|ftin|abbr=on|sp=us}} at the shoulder, has a span across the antlers of {{convert|1.8|m|ftin|abbr=on|sp=us}} and averages {{convert|634.5|kg|lb|0|abbr=on|sp=us}} in males and {{convert|478|kg|lb|0|abbr=on|sp=us}} in females.<ref name="Nancy Long / Kurt Savikko">{{cite web |first1=Nancy |last1=Long |first2=Kurt |last2=Savikko |url=http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/pubs/notebook/biggame/moose.php |title=Moose: Wildlife Notebook Series |publisher=Alaska Department of Fish and Game |date=August 7, 2009 |access-date=November 27, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091130022010/http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/pubs/notebook/biggame/moose.php |archive-date=November 30, 2009 }}</ref> Typically, however, the antlers of a mature bull are between {{convert|1.2|and|1.5|m|ftin|abbr=on}}. The largest confirmed size for this species was a bull shot at the [[Yukon River]] in September 1897 that weighed {{convert|820|kg|lb|0|abbr=on|sp=us}} and measured {{convert|2.33|m|ftin|abbr=on|sp=us}} high at the shoulder.<ref name="Wood">Wood, ''The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats''. Sterling Pub Co Inc. (1983), {{ISBN|978-0-85112-235-9}}</ref> There have been reported cases of even larger moose, including a bull killed in 2004 that weighed {{convert|1043|kg|lb|0|abbr=on|sp=us}},<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.moosehuntinginfo.com/world-record-moose.php| title = World Record Moose Hunting| website = moosehuntinginfo.com| access-date = 22 January 2024| archive-date = 1 March 2024| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240301233631/https://www.moosehuntinginfo.com/world-record-moose.php| url-status = live}}</ref> and a bull that reportedly scaled {{convert|1180|kg|lb|0|abbr=on|sp=us}}, but none are authenticated and some may not be considered reliable.<ref name="Wood"/>

=== Antlers ===

[[File:Alces alces 8492.JPG|thumb|Growing [[antler]]s are covered with a soft, furry covering called "[[velvet antler|velvet]]". Blood vessels in the velvet transport nutrients to support antler growth.]]
[[File:Moose Skull sideview.jpg|thumb|[[Skull]] of a moose]]

Bull moose have antlers like other members of the deer family. The size and growth rate of antlers is determined by diet and age.<ref name=Rodgers2001a /> Size and symmetry in the number of antler points signals bull moose health and cows may select mates based on antler size and symmetry.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Fluctuating asymmetry in the antlers of moose ( Alces alces ): does it signal male quality? |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences |date=22 December 1993 |volume=254 |issue=1341 |pages=251–255 |doi=10.1098/rspb.1993.0154|s2cid=129492491  |issn=0962-8452 }}</ref> Bull moose use their antlers to display dominance, to discourage competition, and to spar or fight rivals.<ref name=Rodgers2001a />

The male's antlers grow as cylindrical beams projecting on each side of the head at right angles to the midline of the skull, and then fork. The lower prong of this fork may be either simple, or divided into two or three [[Tine (structural)|tines]], with some flattening. Most moose have antlers that are broad and palmate (flat) with tines (points) along the outer edge.<ref name=Rodgers2001a>{{citation|title=Moose|first=Art|last=Rodgers|publisher=Voyager Press|chapter=Appearance and characteristics|year=2001|pages=[https://archive.org/details/moose0000rodg/page/24 24–27]|isbn=978-0-89658-521-8|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/moose0000rodg/page/24}}</ref> Within the ecologic range of the moose in Europe, northern populations display the palmate pattern of antlers, while the antlers of European moose residing the southerly portion of its range are typically of the cervina dendritic pattern and comparatively small, perhaps due to evolutionary pressures of hunting by humans, who prize the large palmate antlers. European moose with antlers intermediate between the palmate and the dendritic form are found in the middle of the north-south range.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nygrén |first1=Tuire |first2=Jyrki |last2=Pusenius |first3=Raisa |last3=Tiilikainend |first4=Jan |last4=Korpelainen |title=Moose Antler Type Polymorphism: Age and Weight Dependent Phenotypes and Phenotype Frequencies in Space and Time |journal=Annales Zoologici Fennici |volume=44 |number=6 |date=2007 |pages=445–61 |access-date=May 2, 2020 |jstor=23736846 |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/15167953.pdf#page=22 |archive-date=October 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211012221937/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/15167953.pdf#page=22 |url-status=live }}</ref> Moose with antlers have more acute hearing than those without antlers; a study of trophy antlers using a microphone found that the palmate antler acts as a parabolic reflector, amplifying sound at the moose's ear.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s10344-007-0165-4 |title=Palmated antlers of moose may serve as a parabolic reflector of sounds |journal=European Journal of Wildlife Research |volume=54 |issue=3 |pages=533–5 |year=2008 |last1=Bubenik |first1=George A. |last2=Bubenik |first2=Peter G. |bibcode=2008EJWR...54..533B |s2cid=44737101 |url=https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1221&context=scimath_facpub |access-date=2019-10-18 |archive-date=2020-03-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200314062052/https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1221&context=scimath_facpub |url-status=live }}
*{{cite news |author=James Randerson |date=March 20, 2008 |title=Moose's sharp hearing is attributed to antlers |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/mar/21/medicalresearch.animalbehaviour }}</ref>

The antlers of mature Alaskan adult bull moose (5 to 12 years old) have a normal maximum spread greater than {{convert|200|cm|sp=us}}. By the age of 13, moose antlers decline in size and symmetry. The widest spread recorded was {{convert|210|cm|sp=us}} across. An Alaskan moose also holds the record for the heaviest weight at {{convert|36|kg|0|sp=us}}.<ref name=Rodgers2001a />

Antler beam diameter, not the number of tines, indicates age.<ref name=Rodgers2001a /> In North America, moose (''A. a. americanus'') antlers are usually larger than those of Eurasian moose and have two lobes on each side, like a butterfly. Eurasian moose antlers resemble a seashell, with a single lobe on each side.<ref name=Rodgers2001a /> In the North Siberian moose (''A. a. bedfordiae''), the posterior division of the main fork divides into three tines, with no distinct flattening. In the common moose (''A. a. alces'') this branch usually expands into a broad palmation, with one large tine at the base and a number of smaller snags on the free border. There is, however, a [[Scandinavia]]n breed of the common moose in which the antlers are simpler and recall those of the East Siberian animals. The palmation appears to be more marked in North American moose than in the typical Scandinavian moose.

[[File:alces alces.jpg|thumb|Young female (''A. a. americana'') in early June.]]
After the mating season males drop their antlers to conserve energy for the winter. A new set of antlers will then regrow in the spring. Antlers take three to five months to fully develop, making them one of the fastest growing animal organs. Antler growth is "nourished by an extensive system of blood vessels in the skin covering, which contains numerous hair follicles that give it a 'velvet' texture."<ref name=Rodgers2001a /> This requires intense grazing on a highly-nutritious diet. By September the velvet is removed by rubbing and thrashing which changes the colour of the antlers. Immature bulls may not shed their antlers for the winter, but retain them until the following spring. Birds, carnivores and rodents eat dropped antlers as they are full of protein and moose themselves will eat antler velvet for the nutrients.<ref name=Rodgers2001a />

If a bull moose is [[Castration|castrated]], either by accidental or [[Chemical castration|chemical means]], he will shed his current set of antlers within two weeks and then immediately begin to grow a new set of misshapen and deformed antlers that he will wear the rest of his life without ever shedding again; similarly deformed antlers can result from a deficiency of testosterone caused by [[cryptorchidism]] or old age.<ref name='franzmann'>{{cite book
|first1=Albert W.|last1=Franzmann|first2=Charles C.|last2=Schwartz
|title=Ecology and Management of the North American Moose
|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press
|date=1997
|isbn=1-56098-775-8
|pages=97–98
}}</ref> These deformed antlers are composed of living bone which is still growing or able to grow, since testosterone is needed to stop antler growth;<ref name='bubenik'>{{cite book
|first1=George A.|last1=Bubenik
|first2=Anthony B.|last2=Bubenik
|title=Horns, Pronghorns, and Antlers: Evolution, Morphology, Physiology, and Social Significance
|publisher=[[Springer-Verlag]]
|date=1990
|isbn=978-1-4613-8968-2
|pages=79–81
}}</ref> they may take one of two forms. "Cactus antlers" or velericorn antlers<ref name='bubenik'/> usually retain the approximate shape of a normal moose's antlers but have numerous pearl-shaped [[exostoses]] on their surface; being made of living bone, they are easily broken but can grow back. Perukes ({{IPAc-en|US|p|ə|'|ɹ|u:|k|s}}<!--from this word's Wiktionary page-->) are constantly growing, tumor-like antlers with a distinctive appearance similar to coral.<ref name='franzmann'/> Like [[roe deer]], moose are more likely to develop perukes, rather than cactus antlers, than the more developed cervine deer, but unlike roe deer, moose do not suffer fatal decalcification of the skull as a result of peruke growth,<ref>Geist, Valerius (1998)'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=bcWZX-IMEVkC&pg=PA244 Deer of the World: Their Evolution, Behaviour, and Ecology]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923015358/https://books.google.com/books?id=bcWZX-IMEVkC&pg=PA244&printsec=frontcover |date=September 23, 2021 }}''. Stackpole Books. p. 244.</ref><ref name='bubenik'/> but rather can support their continued growth until they become too large to be fully supplied with blood.<ref name='franzmann'/> The distinctive-looking perukes (often referred to as "devil's antlers") are the source of several myths and legends among many groups of [[Inuit]] as well as several other tribes of indigenous peoples of North America.

In extremely rare circumstances, a cow moose may grow antlers. This is usually attributed to a hormone imbalance.<ref>[http://www.alaskapublic.org/2009/10/19/it%E2%80%99s-a-bull-moose%E2%80%A6no-a-cow%E2%80%A6/ It's a Bull Moose...No a Cow...] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120114602/http://www.alaskapublic.org/2009/10/19/it%E2%80%99s-a-bull-moose%E2%80%A6no-a-cow%E2%80%A6/ |date=January 20, 2012 }} Joe Viechnicki, KFSK – Petersburg 10-19-09</ref>

===Proboscis and olfaction===
The moose proboscis is distinctive among living cervids due to its large size; it also features nares that can be sealed shut when the moose is browsing aquatic vegetation. The moose proboscis likely evolved as an adaptation to aquatic browsing, with loss of the [[rhinarium]], and development of a superior olfactory column separate from an inferior respiratory column.<ref name="Pagano, Anthony Santino 2019">Pagano, Anthony Santino, Jeffrey T. Laitman, Kurt Albertine, and Samuel Marquez. "Evolution of the proboscis in the moose, Alces alces: Evidence from Morphology and Ecology." The FASEB Journal 33, no. 1_supplement (2019): 767-19.</ref> This separation contributes to the moose's keen sense of smell, which they employ to detect water sources, to find food under snow, and to detect mates or predators.<ref>Márquez, Samuel, Anthony S. Pagano, Carrie S. Mongle, Kurt H. Albertine, and Jeffrey T. Laitman. "The Nasal Complex of a Semiaquatic Artiodactyl, the Moose (Alces alces): Is it a Good Evolutionary Model for the Ancestors of Cetaceans?." The Anatomical Record 302, no. 5 (2019): 667-692.</ref><ref name="Pagano, Anthony Santino 2019"/>

===Hooves===
[[File:Tracksdeepsnow.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Long legs allow moose to wade easily through deep water or snow.]]
As with all members of the order Artiodactyla ([[even-toed ungulates]]), moose feet have two large keratinized hooves corresponding to the third and fourth toe, with two small posterolateral [[dewclaw]]s (vestigial digits), corresponding to the second and fifth toe. The hoof of the fourth digit is broader than that of the third digit, while the inner hoof of the third digit is longer than that of the fourth digit. This foot configuration may favor striding on soft ground.<ref>Keller, Anna, Marcus Clauss, Evelyne Muggli, and Karl Nuss. "Even-toed but uneven in length: the digits of artiodactyls." Zoology 112, no. 4 (2009): 270-278.</ref> The moose hoof splays under load, increasing surface area, which limits sinking of the moose foot into soft ground or snow, and which increases efficiency when swimming. The body weight per footprint surface area of the moose foot is intermediate between that of the [[pronghorn]] foot, (which have stiff feet lacking dewclaws—optimized for high-speed running) and the [[caribou]] foot (which are more rounded with large dewclaws, optimized for walking in deep snow). The moose's body weight per surface area of [[footprint]] is about twice that of the caribou.<ref>Lundmark, Caroline. Morphological and behavioral adaptations of moose to climate, snow, and forage. Vol. 2008, no. 67. 2008.</ref><ref>Telfer, Edmund S., and John P. Kelsall. "Adaptation of some large North American mammals for survival in snow." Ecology 65, no. 6 (1984): 1828-1834.</ref>

===Skin and fur===
Moose skin is typical of the [[Cervidae|deer family]]. Moose fur consists of four types of hair: [[eyelash]]es, [[whiskers]], [[guard hair]]s and [[wool]] hairs. Hair length and hair density varies according to season, age, and body region.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sokolov |first1=V. E. |last2=Chernova |first2=O. F. |title=Morphology of the skin of moose (Alces alces L.) |url=https://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=SE8811438 |website=Swedish Wildlife Research (Sweden) |language=English |date=1987 |access-date=2022-11-30 |archive-date=2022-11-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130013618/https://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=SE8811438 }}</ref> The coat has two layers—a top layer of long guard hairs and a soft wooly undercoat. The guard hairs are hollow and filled with air for better insulation, which also helps them stay afloat when swimming.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newfoundlandbiggamehunting.com/post/newfoundland-moose-trivia |title=Big Game Hunting in Newfoundland |publisher=Newfoundland Big Game Hunting |date=January 17, 2016 |access-date=June 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104164154/http://www.newfoundlandbiggamehunting.com/post/newfoundland-moose-trivia |archive-date=January 4, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1= Sokolov |first1= V.E. |last2= Chernova |first2= O.F. |date= 1987 |title= Morphology of the skin of moose (''Alces alces'' L.) |url= https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260120646 |journal= Swedish Wildlife Research |volume= Suppl. |pages= 367–375 |doi= |access-date=4 November 2023}}</ref>

===Dewlap===
Both male and female moose have a [[dewlap]] or bell,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/animal/moose-mammal#ref1022349|title=Moose|publisher=britannica.com|date=July 23, 1999|access-date=October 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002221422/https://www.britannica.com/animal/moose-mammal#ref1022349|archive-date=October 2, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> which is a fold of skin under the chin. Its exact function is unknown, but some morphologic analyses suggest a cooling (thermoregulatory) function.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bro-Jørgensen |first1=Jakob |title=Evolution of the ungulate dewlap: thermoregulation rather than sexual selection or predator deterrence? |journal=Frontiers in Zoology |date=December 2016 |volume=13 |issue=1 |page=33 |doi=10.1186/s12983-016-0165-x|pmid=27437025 |pmc=4949748 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Other theories include a fitness signal in mating, as a visual and olfactory signal, or as a dominance signal by males, as are the antlers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2012/hautala_gavi/|title=Alces alces, Giant of the Northern Forest|publisher=bioweb.uwlax.edu|access-date=October 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208200728/http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2012/hautala_gavi/|archive-date=February 8, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>