Figure 1: White rhinoceros
Most of the living mammals with long horns on their heads are concentrated in the order Cetacean, and a few odd-hoofed species also have "horns", such as various rhinos, but rhino horns are born at the end of the nose, and are formed by epidermal horns, and there is no bone heart inside, which is fundamentally different from the horns of even ungulates. You could even think that it was just a particularly thick hair, not a real horn.
Figure 2: A horned whale
Although the one-horned whale/Monodon monoceros in the order Cetaceans has the name of "one horn", its "horn" is actually a canine tooth protruding from the upper left jaw protruding from the outside of the lip, nor is it a true "horn", and the real horn basically belongs only to the species of the suborder Regurgitate of the order Cetacean. According to the traditional classification, the ruminant suborder has 6 families, including the thrush family, the musk family, the giraffe family, the deer family, the forkhorn antelope family and the cattle family, the species of the shrew deer family and the musk family have no horns, and the rest of the families are basically longhorns, or only males have horns, or both males and females have horns, and the horns of each family have different basic characteristics.
<h1>Horns of the bovine family</h1>
Figure 3: African domestic cattle
First, let's look at the bovine family, such as cattle, sheep and antelopes. The horns of this family are all hollow hole horns with hollow interiors, symmetrical bone branches derived from the protrusions of the frontal bone, and the outer part is covered with a sheath (horn sheath) that can be shed, which is set on the horn center of the bone (bone center), and expands with the growth of the bone heart; there are no nerves and blood vessels on the horn, and the horns cannot be regenerated. The "hole horns" of the cattle family vary in shape, or twist and circle, or point to the sky, or like a bright moon machete, but never forked.
Figure 4: Jacob's four-horned sheep
Figure 5: Four-horned antelope
In general, bovines have only one pair of horns, but there are four-horned breeds in domestic sheep, such as the Jacob four-horned sheep common in Europe. There is also tetracerus quadricornis of the genus Tetracerus in the Indian subfamily Tetracerus, which has a pair of smaller horns on the forehead in addition to a pair of right horns on the top of the head. The four-horned antelope belongs to the unique natural heterogeneity of the bovine family, which is relatively rare, and even a clearer photo cannot be found on the Internet.
<h1>Horns of the deer family</h1>
Fig. 6: Reindeer, the only domestic animal in the deer family to be domesticated
Let's look at the deer family, most of which have horns, and the hornless species have fangs on the canine teeth (such as the roe deer/Hydropotes inermis), all of which are a bit equipped. Compared with the monotonous bovine family, the horns of the deer family can be described as a variety of renovations and wonderful. However, only reindeer/Rangifer tarandus in this family have horns for both male and female, and the rest of the species are only males who are qualified to have horns. Simply put, the horns of the deer family are dead bones, solid forks, which are affected by the pituitary gland and testosterone, and grow and fall off regularly, which are very different from the horns of the bovine family.
Figure 7: Hairy-crowned deer
Most of the horns of deer , if any , are forked , and differ in different ways , some resemble branches , some are flattened palms , but there are exceptions where the horns are not forked. Species of the subfamily Chamois have only short horns in the male chamois, regardless of the branches or only 1 small branch, and the base of the horns forms longitudinal ridges on the face; the horns of the hairy-crested deer/Elaphodus cephalophus are extremely short and indistinguishable, hidden in a cluster of long black hairs on the top of the forehead. The subfamily Empty-toothed deer family also has some species with unforwarded horns.
<h1>Horns of the giraffe family</h1>
Compared with the bovine family and the deer family, the horns of the giraffe family are relatively low-key, looking like a wifi, neither mighty nor gorgeous, but better than nothing.
Fig. 8: Marking differences between the four giraffes
Figure IX: Okapi
In the past classification system, there were only 2 genera and 2 species of giraffes, namely giraffa/giraffa camelopardalis of the genus Giraffa and okapia johnstoni of the genus Okapia, the only close relative of the giraffe; today the situation has changed, according to the latest research, the original giraffe species are divided into four: Maasai giraffe/G. tippelskirchi, southern giraffa/G. giraffa, northern giraffa/G. camelopardalis, reticulated giraffe/G. reticulata. The degree of differentiation between these four species is similar to that of polar bears and brown bears.
Figure 10: Horn of the Okapi
Figure 11: Giraffe's horn
Males have a pair of short horns, females have no horns; giraffes have a pair of small short horns on the top of both the head of the male and female, the background color is light brown, there are two pairs of very inconspicuous horns behind the ears and behind the eyes, and some male giraffes also have a horn (or protrusion) in the center of the forehead, so the giraffe has 6-7 horns. These horns are covered with skin, and nerves and blood vessels pass through, like deer antler velvet in the deer family, which is actually ossified cartilage that will not fall off for life.
<h1>Horns of the pronged antelope</h1> family
Figure 12: Forkhorn antelope
In addition to the 3 families mentioned above, the suborder Ruminant also has a long-horned forked horned antelope, which has only one seedling, 1 genus and 1 species, namely forkhorn antelope/Antilocapra americana, as shown in the figure above, distributed in North America. The middle corner sheath of its horn has a branch that extends forward, hence the name.
Figure 13: The horns of the forked horned antelope
The appearance of the forkhorn antelope looks like a cow not a cow, like a sheep, like a deer, not a deer, not too much like an antelope, no wonder it will dominate a family, and its horns are also distinct: the horn base is bone, similar to the bovine family; but the horn sheath formed by the mixture of matter and part of the hair falls off year by year, and it resembles the deer family. The bone center does not fork and the horn sheath has a small fork, the forked horn sheath has a fusion hair, the hairy horn sheath is changed every year, and the bone heart does not fall off. This horn type is endemic to male chamois, while females have only a short horned center and no horn sheath. Its characteristics are between the hole horns of the bovine family and the bone horns of the deer family, which can be described as maverick, six relatives do not recognize, do not give a single family are sorry for this pair of horns.
<h1>Conclusion</h1>
According to its main characteristics, the horns of the bovine family, deer family and giraffe family are called cave horns, bone horns and skin bone horns respectively, corresponding to Horn, Antler and Ossicone in English, remember not to mix. As for which category the forkhorn antelope belongs, please forgive the brick family for not being able to learn and learn, failing to query reliable information, and probably should be counted as bone horns.