Fur

From Encyclopedia Jr, free information reference for Kids

For other uses, see Fur (disambiguation).

A dog's fur usually consists of longer, stiffer, guard hairs—which can be straight, wiry, or wavy, and of various lengths, hiding a soft, short-haired undercoat.

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 be referred to as "naked", as in The Naked Ape and naked mole rat.

Fur usually consists of two main layers:

• Ground hair or underfur — the bottom layer consisting of wool hairs which 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 the visible layer for most mammals and contains most of the pigmentation.

[edit] Fur clothing

Main article: Fur clothing

Fur has long served as an important source of clothing for humans, especially in colder climates. Although its use today is controversial, on grounds of welfare and ethics, it continues to be a popular commodity. The term fur is often used to refer to a fur coat, wrap,collar or shawl. Modern cultures continue to wear fur and fur trim, as dictated by fashion trends and it is still considered by many as a luxury item. World fur centers are those of Kastoria, Greece, Frankfurt, Germany, New York and China.