Page 22 - Mammal (DK Eyewitness)

Furry

coats

Fur, whiskers, wool, prickles, spines,
and even certain horns - these are all made
from hair, one of the mammal’s trademarks.
The advantages of a furry coat have helped the Section to
mammal group to success. Most important is show whale
the ability of hair to trap air and keep out cold Hair seal fur blubber
and heat, wind and rain, and so insulate the Mottled markings Epidermis
mammal’s body from the surroundings. Hairs in fur Dermis
grow from tiny pits in the skin, called follicles. WATER TIGHT SEAL KILLED FOR
They consist of cells cemented together and The seal’s skin contains BLUBBER
toughened with keratin, the same fibrous many sebaceous (grease) Whales do not have
fur to insulate them
glands that make its fur
protein substance that strengthens the skin. oily and water repellent. from the cold ocean Blubber
Not all mammals have hair. Some, like the (Under the fur is a layer water. This job is
done by blubber, a
of blubber, like the
whales, lost it during evolution. whale’s.) Native peoples layer of fatty tissue
such as the Inuit (below) under the skin,
which also
hunt seals for meat and
☞ All the furs shown here come from museum also for their skins, made streamlines the
collections - no animals were killed for this book. ☞
into boots and garments.
whale’s shape for
efficient swimming.
WOOL FOR WEARING In some whales the
Sheep have been bred for their fur - wool - for centuries. Sheep’s wool is a blubber is 20 in Connective
good insulator, absorbent yet springy, and takes up colored dyes well. More (50 cm) thick. tissue
than half the world’s wool comes from the Southern Hemisphere; three Processed blubber, or
quarters of it is used in the Northern Hemisphere. whale oil, lit millions
of lamps in days gone Fascia
Spun and dyed wool, ready by and was also used
for weaving or knitting for making lubricants,
soap, cosmetics,
margarine, and paint. Muscles
FURRY SNOW
The Arctic fox grows a beautiful
all-white winter coat to
Freshly sheared wool contains Inuit wearing camouflage it in its snowy
lanolin (wool grease) used in cosmetics seal fur hood landscape. Another color
form, the blue, is grayish to
brown in winter.
HAIRS ON GUARD POSSUM’S PELT
The opossum of North America has straight fur, Australian possums tend to have crinkly or crimped hairs. The
unlike its marsupial cousin from Australia (right). common brush-tailed possum is a cat-size, tree-dwelling species. One
The long, light guard hairs can clearly be seen of its local names is Polar color form
projecting from the “silver-gray,” Arctic fox fur
deep underfur. because of Possum fur
its fur.
Opossum fur Crimped hairs

Underfur
Guard hairs