Horn
A horn is a spiked protrusion on the head of an animal.
In the wild, horns are most commonly found on ungulates. They are mostly used by males to compete with other males; females often lack horns for this reason.
Horns are commonly made of keratin, a hard natural substance from which fur and claws are also made. In most animals, they grow continuously through an animal's life, sometimes in a continuous curve or curl, and are not shed. They also commonly occur in pairs.
Bony horns are rare or unknown in the wild, but are commonly featured on dragons, which may have one or more pairs.
The eartufts of owls are sometimes called horns, but these are merely clumps of feathers which happen to be located on the top of the head.
In fursuits, horns are often made out of plastic.
[edit] Styles of horn
- Straight: a simple, uncurved spike, seen in the unicorn.
- Curved: a horn with a small curvature in one direction. Seen in gazelles and goats.
- Curled or Spiral: horns with strong curvature, such that they circle in a helix. Seen in sheep, in which the horns curl round at the sides of the head to provide a hard, curved area to butt with; also in impala, which grow the horns upward and outward in a long spiral.
[edit] Hornlike structures
Antlers are bony, branching growths on the heads of deer. They are structurally dissimilar to horns, but their function is the same. Unlike horns, they are shed every year and regrown completely. The pronghorn is unique in that it has horns, but sheds the horny sheath each year, leaving a bony prong.
Tusks are elongated teeth which resemble horns. The most well-known animal with tusks is the elephant, but it occurs in other animals, including pigs, walruses, some deer, and the narwhal.
| Anatomy | ||
|---|---|---|
| Forms
|
||
| Limb styles
|
||
| Stances
|
||
| Body parts
|
||
| Fursuiting topics | ||
|---|---|---|
| Construction and components
|
 | |
| Types
|
||
| Activities
|
||
| Websites and databases
|
||
| Related
|
||