What’s the Difference Between Antlers and Horns?

ANTLERS

Antlers are found in the Cervidae family. The most common animals in this family are Whitetail Deer, Mule Deer, Elk, and Moose. All of these species can be found in the United States. At the root or end of each antler is a small, bony growth called a pedicle. This is where the antler attaches to the animal’s skull. Antlers are made of bone like material, and covered with "velvet"—a thin, soft layer of skin and blood vessels that gets scraped off the antler over time. 

Later in the year, typically in the winter months, those antlers are shed (fall off the deer, elk, or moose’s head), making room for a new set to grow in. That's why hikers will occasionally find antlers laying on the ground, discarded by their owners. It also means that the huge antlers of a male moose or elk, for instance, are the incredible product of just a single season of growth. Antlers are also an exclusively male accessory, with one exception—in reindeer, antlers can be found on both sexes. 

HORNS

While you’ll occasionally find a shed antler, that’s not true for horns—they’re attached permanently to species in the family Bovinae, or cows and their relatives such as Buffalo or Bison. Where antlers grow out of a bony stub, horns have a full core of bone. Animals use their horns to defend against predators. If an animal's horn is broken or damaged, it will remain that way forever. It does not grow back. Horns are permanent; they are not shed, but grow with the animal throughout its lifespan.

Instead of skin, horns are covered in a tough coating of keratin, the same substance that makes up human fingernails. Horns are also more likely to be a unisex accessory, with males and females of a species both sporting the appendages.

FINAL THOUGHTS

There you have it. Animals who have antlers will continue to grow and shed their antlers throughout their lifespan. For those animals sporting horns, well, they only get one set so hopefully it’s a good one.

*Information for this post was found from the American Museum of Natural History. You can find the original article here.