Fur

:For alternative meanings, see Fur (disambiguation).

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The term fur refers to the body hair of non-human mammals also known as the pelage (like the term plumage in birds). Fur comes from the coats of animals; the animal's coat may consist of short ground hair, long guard hair, and, in some cases, medium awn hair. Not all mammals have fur; animals without fur may have the epithet "naked", as in The Naked Ape and naked mole rat.

Related Topics:
Hair - Mammal - Pelage - Plumage - Ground hair - Guard hair - Awn hair - Naked - The Naked Ape - Naked mole rat

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Fur usually consists of two main layers:

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• Ground hair or underfur - the bottom layer consisting of wool hairs when tend to be shorter, flattened, curly and denser than the top layer.
• Guard hair - the top layer consisting of longer straight shafts of hair that stick out through the underfur. This is usually what's visible in most mammals and contains most of the pigmentation.

Considerable controversy exists over the use of animal fur to make clothing. For more information, see fur farming.

Related Topics:
Controversy - Fur farming

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Fur: Fur clothing ►