Antlers

Characteristics

• Found on members of the deer family, elk, mule deer, and moose.
• Composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels.
• Found on males, only with the exception of reindeer/caribou.
• Has multiple points.
• Velvet is lost before the rut. The velvet is the skin, nerves, and blood vessels.
• Shed and regrown yearly.
• Falls off after the rut due to the drop in testosterone.
• When growing, the velvet covers the bone and supplies blood that carries food and oxygen.

Horns

Characteristics

• Found on bison and bighorn sheep.
• Composed of bone on the inside and a thick layer of keratin on the outside.
• Horns are on both male and female bison. Female bighorn sheep have horns, which are never as large as rams' horns.
• Has a single point.
• Horns never shed.

Horns of Pronghorns

Characteristics

The horns of a pronghorn are a blend of horn and antler characteristics. It is in a category of its own.

• Shared with both antlers and horns
• Inside consists of bone
• Shares with horns
• The outside covering is keratin
• Shares with antlers
• Has multiple points on the horn
• Only it does
• Sheds only its sheath and regrown annually
• Horns are not dropped
• Antler velvet is first shed, then later, the bone is dropped
• Only 70% of females have horns that are much smaller than male