Horns and Antlers

• Found in ungulates i.e. hoofed

animals
– Artiodactyla: even-toed ungulates
whose wt. is borne equally by the
3rd and 4th toes. eg pigs, hippos,
camels, giraffe, sheep, goats,
cattle.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Artiodactyla_feet.png

– Perissodactyla: odd no. of toes

• are browsers and grazers
• Eg: horses, tapir, rhinoceros.
• The middle toe on each hoof is
usually larger than others.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perissodactyla
 Functions of Horns and Antlers
• Offensive
– In members of the same spp for territory,
dominance
• Defensive
– From predators
• Courtship rituals
– Horns used in displays
– mating priority
• e.g: male blue wildebeest reams bark and
branches of trees to impress females and lure
them into their territories.
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 Fns of Horns and Antlers
• Sexual dimorphism
• Ranking in social system
• Some animals with true horns use them
for cooling.
– blood vessels in the bony core allow the horns
to function as a radiator.

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 Fns. of Horns and Antlers
• Usually in males, but in some species females
too may possess horns.
• It has been theorized that taller spp living in
the open are more visible from longer
distances and more likely to benefit from horns
to defend themselves against predators.
• Female bovids not hidden from predators due
to their large size or open Savannah-3like
habitat are more likely to bear horns than small
or camouflaged species.
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 Types
True Horns
• Found in artiodactyla,
family Bovidae
• Permanent
• Unbranched
• Composed of:
– Bony core
– Horn sheath
• Bony core is an outgrowth
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikimedia/en-labs/9/9a/Anatomy_and_physiology_of_animals_A_horn.jpg

from the frontal bone

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 True horns
• Horn sheath formed from
keratinised epidermis
• Horn can be the whole
structure or just the outer
sheath.
• Not shed
• Have seasonal rings
– Used in age determination
• Dermis provides nutrients
http://www.dezeen.com/2009/09/18/sire-glasses-by-aekae/

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 Pronghorns
• Only on the N. American
pronghorns (Antilocapra
americana)
• Outgrowth from frontal bone
• Basic structure similar to
bovine horn
• Consist of permanent
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/resources/phil_myers/horns_antlers/pronghorn.jpg /

unbranched bony core

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 pronghorns
• Epidermis horny sheath
– Shed annually
– When a sheath is about to be shed, it
becomes loose and a new one begins to form
on the bone core
– Females sometimes are hornless
• branched

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 Antlers
• In family Cervidae – deer
– Confined to the North of
Sahara
• Fully developed antlers are
entirely of bony structure
• Branched and shed annually
• During growth the bone is
covered with velvet (soft
skin)
– Velvet carries blood vessels
and nerves to the growing
bone
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 Antlers
• Formed from a pedicel (an extension of
the frontal bone)
• A burr marks a point of separation
between permanent pedicel and
deciduous antler
• Consists of main stem (beam) and
branches (tines)
• No. of tines on individual depends on age,
nutrition, hormonal conditions
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 Stages in the growth of antlers

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/resources/phil_myers/horns_antlers/deer_age.jpg

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 Antlers
• brow tine - 1st tine immediately over forehead
• bez tine - 2nd tine
• Crown - points at the summit of the antler
• Rack – pair of antlers together
• Palmate – expanded, more flattened antlers
• By late summer circulation in the velvet slows
down and the skin dies, eventually it falls off.
• Only males wear antlers
• Fully grown during mating season
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 Antlers

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/resources/phil_myers/horns_antlers/antler_group.jpg/thumbnail.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antler

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 antlers
• Under-nourished individuals never have as
many tines or well developed racks as a
well nourished one
• In most deer, antlers are a secondary sex
characteristic, i.e. their formation is
controlled by male hormones
– Injured testes or other factors influencing
hormonal production result in stunted/
deformed antlers
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 Giraffe ‘Horns’
• Short, permanent,
unbranched horns
• Situated over the sutures
btwn frontal and parietal
bones
• Covered with a skin and hair
• Ossify from distinct centers
then fuse to the skull
– Are not projections of the
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/resources/phil_myers/horns_antlers/giraffe.jpg/medium.jpg

frontal bone
• Present both in males and
females
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 Rhinoceros ‘Horns’
• Only nonartiodactyls to poses keratinised
head ornament
• No distinct core and sheath
– Solid mass of hardened epidermal cells
– Formed from a cluster of dermal papillae
• 1or 2 horns on their nose
• Conical and frequently curve posteriorly
• Fibers grow from dermal papilla
• Cemented together by a mass epidermal cells
• Grows over the fused nasal bones (enlarged and
rough) and the second
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is over
Bio 415: Mammalogy
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the frontal bones
16
 Rhino ‘horns’

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/resources/phil_myers/horns_antlers/rhino.jpg

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 Claws, Nails and Hoofs
• Keratinised epidermal cells

• Not present in some mammals

• Whales, Cetaceas, sea-cows, sirenians

replaced these structures with flippers

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 Claws
• Have two parts
– Hard upper part
• Unguis
– Curved longitudinally and transverselly
– Softer lower part - subunguis
– Provide protection to the tip of digits
– Increase traction and stability
– Used in excavation in digging mammals
– Used in arboreal animals for hanging eg. in
sloths
– Holding and killing prey in carnivores
– Can be retracted
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 Diagram of a Claw

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http://www.uvm.edu/~jdecher/Claws.GIF
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 Nails
• In primates, otters
• Modified claws
• Only covers the dorsal surface of the digit
• Unguis is broad and flat
• Subunguis is reduced (only under the tip
of the nail)
• Fingers are used for feeling,
– therefore reduced claws
– Ability to dig and climb reduced
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 Diagram of a Nail

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http://www.uvm.edu/~jdecher/Claws.GIF
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 Hoofs
• In Ungulates
• Unguis covers round the end of the digit
• Subunguis enclosed
• Frog – pad behind the hoof
• Protects the digits from wear

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 Diagram of a hoof

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http://www.uvm.edu/~jdecher/Claws.GIF
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