# Samejima and Matsuoka, ‘A New Viewpoint on Antlers’, 2020 > [!cite] > Samejima, Yuusuke, and Hiroshige Matsuoka. ‘A New Viewpoint on Antlers Reveals the Evolutionary History of Deer (Cervidae, Mammalia)’. *Scientific Reports*, vol. 10, 8910 (June 2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64555-7. > [!abstract] > Recent molecular phylogeny of deer revealed that the characters of antlers previously focused on are homoplasious, and antlers tend to be considered problematic for classification. However, we think antlers are important tools and reconsidered and analysed the characters and structures to use them for classification. This study developed a method to describe the branching structure of antlers by using antler grooves, which are formed on the antlers by growth, and then projecting the position of the branching directions of tines on the burr circumference. By making diagrams, comparing the branching structure interspecifically, homologous elements (tines, beams, and processes) of the antlers of 25 species of 16 genera were determined. Subsequently, ancestral state reconstruction was performed on the fixed molecular phylogenetic tree. It was revealed that Capreolinae and Cervini gained respective three-pointed antlers independently, and their subclades gained synapomorphous tines. We found new homologous and synapomorphous characters, as the antler of Eld’s deer, which has been classified in *Rucervus*, is structurally close to that of *Elaphurus* rather than that of *Rucervus*, consistent with molecular phylogeny. The methods of this study will contribute to the understanding of the branching structure and phylogeny of fossil species and uncover the evolutionary history of Cervidae. --- ‘Antlers grow extensionally from the tip like a plant stem. Plant stems may sometimes twist when growing, but it is possible to recognise twisting from streaks on the epidermis, and we can correctly understand the structure of leaves branching from the stem. Similar to plant stems, by paying attention to the streaks on antlers, which are called “antler grooves”, we think that it is possible to recognise this twisting and understand the branching structure of antlers.’ [[Samejima and Matsuoka, ‘A New Viewpoint on Antlers’, 2020|(Samejima and Matsuoka 2020, abstract)]] ^b9b337