This scientific fact about Santa's reindeer will blow your mind

In the lead up to Christmas, we like to have our facts straight about what the Big Man is up to in the North Pole. 

We know the elves are hard at work, Santa's resting up for the big round-the-world trip and Mrs. Claus is definitely running the show behind the scenes. 

And Santa's reindeer? Well, have we got news for you. 

They're all girls. And we've got the science to back it up. 

How do we know that Rudolph, Vixen and the gang were all women? The horns.

Male reindeer loose their horns during the winter season, where females retain them.

Speaking to Live Science, physiologist Perry Barboza of the Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska, said that "it appears that" Santa's reindeer are girls.

Seeing as he's a qualified reindeer expert (yes, that's actually a real thing) we're definitely taking his word for it. 

Female reindeer also have another competitive edge over their male counterparts.

According to Barboza, males shed most of their body fat going into winter, whereas females retain more than half their body weight in fat.

Making them more able to carry the fuel needed for that long trip around the world!

The fascinating fact first started doing the rounds a couple of years ago, but recently caught our attention again with this viral tweet: 

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!!!

— Cat Reynolds (@catreynoldsnyc) 11 December 2017

In case you were wondering, males grow their horns back in the spring time, and females keep theirs until their calves are born. 

Since reindeer have been depicted as male for so long it's so refreshing to see women getting recognition they deserve for all their hard work. 

We love that Santa's sleigh is run by a team of powerful women. 

You go girls!