Album: Animals' Dazzling Headgear

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Big bull moose

headgear, ruminants, antlers, horns, deer, sheep, cows, giraffes,

(Image credit: In public domain)

Red deer stag

headgear, ruminants, antlers, horns, deer, sheep, cows, giraffes,

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons user Mehmet Karatay)

Red deer stag (Cervus elaphus) with velvet antlers in Glen Torridon, Scotland. When the antlers of a deer are still growing they are covered in a special skin called velvet. They lose and re-grow their antlers every year.

Cow in Eyeworth Wood, New Forest

headgear, ruminants, antlers, horns, deer, sheep, cows, giraffes,

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons user Jim Champion)

A cow sitting in a sunny spot among the beech trees of the United Kingdom. A cow's headgear are true horns, made of keratin (same proteins as skin and nails) and covered with skin.

Bighorn sheep

headgear, ruminants, antlers, horns, deer, sheep, cows, giraffes,

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons user Wing-Chi Poon)

Bighorn sheep Ovis canadensis in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. The sheep's horns are similar to those of cows and goats.

Male elk

headgear, ruminants, antlers, horns, deer, sheep, cows, giraffes,

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons user Malene Thyssen (User Malene))

Portrait of a male elk (Alces alces), whose antlers are similar to those of deer.

giraffe headgear

headgear, ruminants, antlers, horns, deer, sheep, cows, giraffes,

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons user William Scot)

The nubs that top the giraffe's head, which are just bone projects covered in skin and hair, are called ossicones.

Pronghorn antelope

headgear, ruminants, antlers, horns, deer, sheep, cows, giraffes,

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons user MONGO)

This is a male pronghorn antelope, which has very different horns from its normal antelope cousins. The horns have a bone center and a special outer layer that it sheds and re-grows every year.

Okapi

headgear, ruminants, antlers, horns, deer, sheep, cows, giraffes,

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons user Dontworry)

Okapi couple at zoo in Frankfurt am Main. The okapi are a very rare species of ruminant related to Giraffes. They have similar headgear, bone projects covered in skin and hair, called ossicones.

Bubikon cow market

headgear, ruminants, antlers, horns, deer, sheep, cows, giraffes,

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons user Paebi)

Cow Market in Bubikon, Switzerland. A cow's headgear are true horns, made of keratin (same proteins as skin and nails) and covered with skin.

Mule deer missing antler

headgear, ruminants, antlers, horns, deer, sheep, cows, giraffes,

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons user Hustvedt)

A mule deer missing an antler. Deer loose their antlers each year and re-grow new ones from stem cells in the base of the antler.

An aubrac cow

headgear, ruminants, antlers, horns, deer, sheep, cows, giraffes,

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons user Jean-Luc Bailleul)

An aubrac cow. A cow's headgear are true horns, made of keratin (same proteins as skin and nails) and covered with skin.

Jennifer Welsh
Jennifer Welsh

Jennifer Welsh is a Connecticut-based science writer and editor and a regular contributor to Live Science. She also has several years of bench work in cancer research and anti-viral drug discovery under her belt. She has previously written for Science News, VerywellHealth, The Scientist, Discover Magazine, WIRED Science, and Business Insider.