Kudu Horn
Kudu Horn
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Difference between deer and antelope?
I know antelope are bovidae and all, and that antelope do not shed their horns, but are there any other differences between deer and say, a kudu?
I mean in behaviour and anatomy.
Deer and antelope belong to different families - deer to Cervidae and antelope to Bovidae. The terms are certainly NOT interchangeable as spiderman suggests. Both are herbivores belonging to the order Artiodactyla, and are similar in many ways as they have evolved similar lifestyles - both have cloven hooves and chew the cud, and both have long legs and eyes on the sides of their heads, for example. The most obvious difference between them, which you mentioned yourself, is that deer have antlers whilst antelope have horns. Antlers are branched structures made of bone, covered with skin called velvet whilst growing, which are shed and regrown every year. Horns are unbranched, are made of bone with a keratin sheath, and are never shed. Among deer, only males have antlers in all species except for the reindeer, in which both sexes have them (though the female's are smaller). Among antelope, in some species both sexes have horns, such as wildebeest, and in others only the males do, such as impala.