What is the difference between horned animals: an overview of the horns

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

The fauna of the Earth is incredibly rich. The planet is inhabited by a variety of interesting creatures - predators, herbivores - everyone has their own individual appearance. Horned animals are representatives of herbivores. There are domesticated - cattle, and there are wild ones. Their horns also differ in size and shape, for example, cow and deer horns.

Cattle

Domestic horned animals are cows, bali, yaks. They all have large dimensions and the presence of horns. The horns of artiodactyls are peculiar processes growing from the skull, located far from each other, growing mainly to the sides. Horns in cows and yaks are inherent in both males and females. With their help, bulls fight for the championship in the herd. Why are they in cows? And they are given by nature to large herbivores so that they can protect themselves and their young from predators. This is the main weapon for large, well-marked individuals. It is believed that the larger the horns of a cow, the more milk it will produce. This relationship has not been proven by science, but farmers are guided by this sign and have proven in practice that the connection takes place.

What do ram and goat horns look like?

Horned animals are varied in appearance, andEveryone's horns are different. In cows, they have a straight shape, a wide base and a thin, pointed tip. In rams and goats, they are completely different. There are in shape resembling a corkscrew (in a goat with a markhorn), bent with a sickle (in a ram), argali have horns in the form of a spiral, and the Siberian goat is armed with a "weapon" similar to sabers. Domestic rams do not have as large horns as their wild relatives, they are mostly rolled up. Such bagels cannot cause severe harm, but they can frighten off a predator, distract for a while. Goats, on the other hand, have strong weapons that have remained unchanged for many centuries, they are sharp, thin and capable of severely injuring a predator or rival.

Moose: animal description

The largest species of the Deer family is the elk. This is an artiodactyl mammal, herbivore, very large horned animal. Mighty elk giant that inhabits forests. These majestic horned animals are beautiful. Males weigh up to six hundred kilograms, the maximum body length reaches three and a half meters. The height at the withers, which has the shape of a hump, is often found under two and a half meters. The appearance of moose is very different from other deer, first of all, these are horns. It is also humpbacked withers, long legs. An elk cannot lean fully towards the ground, so it often requires them to go deep into the water or kneel to eat to drink. Elk is a treasured prey for hunters. Everything is valued in this animal - meat, skins, and even horns - they decorate walls, make hangers for outerwear.

Moose antler features

Moose elk is called because of its horns - their structure resembles a plow. Male moose have the largest antlers of all living mammals. Their size can reach two meters, and weight - more than thirty kilograms. The females don't have any. The elk sheds its old antlers every year in the fall and grows new ones throughout the year. They have a spatulate shape, horny processes extend from a large plane. These processes can be used to judge the age of the elk. To get rid of the annoying horns, moose rub them against the trees, it happens that the horns get stuck in the branches and bushes through which the beast made its way. It is not uncommon for a moose to lose them in battle.

The antlers that the elk shed are different in structure from those that were obtained by shooting the animal. Discarded have a grayish color, porous structure. The horns of a killed elk are light and dense, therefore they are valued much more. On the upper side, the elk antlers are grayish-brown, and inside, closer to the middle, they are almost white. For crafts, specimens of young individuals are used - fifteen centimeters. They make one-piece small products, decorated with carvings.