The first written account of Santa Claus having reindeer was in 1821, and since then most people have assumed the reindeer were male 害羞草研究所� but a scientist says those people would be wrong.

Andrew Hebda, a zoologist at the Nova Scotia Museum, says while both male and female reindeer have antlers, only the females have their antlers during the winter months.

害羞草研究所淏eing members of the deer family, the males grow their antlers a little bit earlier and just after mating season, which is just about finished now, they drop off. So over a winter you害羞草研究所檒l never see a male with antlers,害羞草研究所� Hebda said.

Pregnant females use their antlers to dig through the snow in search for food, and lose them just before giving birth, he said.

It害羞草研究所檚 most likely, he said, that Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen are all female.

害羞草研究所淎ny reindeer right now with antlers is a girl,害羞草研究所� he said.

New focus has been placed on their gender in part because of a New York City Twitter user害羞草研究所檚 assertion this month they are 害羞草研究所渁 team of strong, powerful, underrated women.害羞草研究所�

The tweet, relying entirely on the antler theory of gender, proved very popular 害羞草研究所� it has garnered more than 680,000 likes and more than 200,000 retweets.

MALE REINDEER LOSE THEIR ANTLERS IN WINTER AND FEMALES DON'T THEREFORE SANTA'S SLEIGH IS ACTUALLY PULLED BY A TEAM OF STRONG, POWERFUL, UNDERRATED WOMEN!!!!! YOU GO, GIRLS!! I SEE YOU!!!

害羞草研究所� Cat Reynolds (@catreynoldsnyc)

A Chicago Zoological Society blog post echoes the contention that the antlers tell the tale.

害羞草研究所淭his isn害羞草研究所檛 to say Santa only had female reindeer, but the nine flyers were girls,害羞草研究所� it said.

害羞草研究所淟et害羞草研究所檚 be honest, unlike Santa, reindeer don害羞草研究所檛 live forever, so Santa needs both male and female reindeer, no? Because boy reindeer don害羞草研究所檛 give birth to future generations of magical flying reindeer.害羞草研究所�

Hebda says there害羞草研究所檚 another option 害羞草研究所� castrated male reindeer don害羞草研究所檛 lose their antlers.

VIDEO:

害羞草研究所淭hat害羞草研究所檚 always a possibility. It害羞草研究所檚 a question of whether Santa has followed a code of practice for proper raising of animals in castration is perhaps up in the air at the moment, but that害羞草研究所檚 a possibility,害羞草研究所� Hebda said.

Hebda said European reindeer are cousins of the North American caribou. There have been some introductions of reindeer into North America 害羞草研究所� most recently into Newfoundland, he said.

While Hebda can talk about reindeer gender, he害羞草研究所檚 not prepared to explain how they fly.

And while many children leave milk and cookies out for Santa on Christmas Eve, Hebda said that害羞草研究所檚 not a good choice for the reindeer.

And he said carrots may also be too rich of a treat to leave out for Santa害羞草研究所檚 reindeer. He suggests lichens, leafy greens and dried mushrooms instead.

Like us on and follow us on .