​​What’s the difference between Horns and Antlers?


Antlers are paired, branched structures that are made entirely from bone and are shed annually. Developing antlers have a high water and protein content and a soft, hair-like covering known as velvet, which comprises blood vessels and nerves. 

As a result of hormonal and environmental changes, the antler ossifies – the growing, spongy bone is converted into harder, thicker lamellar bone – before the velvet falls away altogether. Antlers are usually only present for a few months before being shed and, apart from reindeer, only occur in males.

Horns are unbranched, two-part structures with a bony core and covered by a keratin sheath (the same material found in human hair and nails), which grows from specialized hair follicles. Horns are a permanent feature and, in many species, grow continuously.

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