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Reindeer are ruminants, having a four-chambered stomach. They mainly eat lichens in winter, especially reindeer moss. However, they also eat the leaves of willows and birches, as well as sedges and grasses. They can also eat voles (lat. clethrionomys glareolus), lemmings (lat. lemmus lemmus), birds and bird eggs. Reindeer antlers grow again each year under a layer of fur called velvet. This reindeer is currently losing the velvet layer on one of its antlers.An unusual feature of the reindeer is that it has front teeth only on its bottom jaw; there are molars on both the top and bottom. Reindeer have specialized noses featuring nasal turbinate bones that dramatically increase the surface area within the nostrils. Incoming cold air is warmed by the animal's body heat before entering the lungs, and water condensed from the expired air and captured before it is exhaled, used to moisten dry incoming air and possibly absorbed into the blood through the mucous membranes.
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