A scur is an incompletely developed
horn
Horn most often refers to:
*Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound
** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments
*Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...
growth. In
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...
, scurs are not attached to the skull, whereas horns are attached and have blood vessels and nerves.
Scurs may also occur in
sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
.
Genetic Inheritance
The gene for scurs is inherited separately from the
polled gene in cattle. Not all polled animals lack the scur gene. Since horned is recessive to polled, no horned cattle carry the polled allele, but they may also carry scurs.
In
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...
, genetic expression of the scur gene is different from that of the dominant polled gene, in that the scur gene's expression depends on the sex of the animal. The scur gene is dominant in males and recessive in females.
See also
*
Horn (anatomy)
A horn is a permanent pointed projection on the head of various animals that consists of a covering of keratin and other proteins surrounding a core of live bone. Horns are distinct from antlers, which are not permanent.
In mammals, true horns ...
*
Polled livestock
Polled livestock are livestock without horns in species which are normally horned. The term refers to both breeds and strains that are naturally polled through selective breeding and also to naturally horned animals that have been disbudded. Nat ...
*
Livestock dehorning
Dehorning is the process of removing the horns of livestock. Cattle, sheep, and goats are sometimes dehorned for economic and safety reasons. Disbudding is a different process with similar results; it cauterizes and thus destroys horn buds before ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
*The Genetics of Polled/Horned/Scurred in Cattl
Animal anatomy