What is commonly called "fur" is typically recognized as "the relatively short hair with definitive growth that grows densely over the body," Khidas said. The type of fur known as wool is a kind of underhair — soft, thin, curly, flexible hair that never stops growing.
Sheep fur is variously called sheepskin or lambskin, while the fur of a sheep which has been recently sheared is called shearling. And just for total clarity, when we use sheep hair without the skin attached, it's called wool, and no animals are killed to produce it.
What is Animal Hair? The technical definition of “hair” is “a filament made of keratin protein that grows from follicles in the skin.” Keratin is a major structural protein in all vertebrates, found in skin, claws, hooves, and nails, as well as in hair.
The most important function of hair in mammals is that of insulating against cold by conserving body heat. The differing colours and colour patterns in hair coats can also serve purposes of camouflage and of sexual recognition and attraction among the members of a species.
The root of human hairs is commonly club-shaped, whereas the roots of animal hairs are highly variable between animals. The scale pattern of the cuticle in human hairs is routinely imbricate. Animal hairs exhibit more variable scale patterns. The shape of the hair shaft is also more variable in animal hairs.
On wool sheep, the hair part of the fleece is called kemp.
The wool from one sheep is called a fleece; from many sheep, a clip. The amount of wool that a sheep produces depends upon its breed, genetics, nutrition, and shearing interval.
Like other mammals, sheep are covered in hair, but there's something peculiar about sheep hair. It's not straight. More importantly, its not too short, which makes it a leader of the wool industry. Sheep are usually covered in thick wool, and their wool tends to be curly and comfy.
A: All mammals have hair—dogs, cats, foxes, pigs, gerbils, horses, and people. Even dolphins have a few whiskers early in their lives. Scientifically speaking, there's no difference between hair and fur.
Fur is usually shorter and denser than hair. This is because dogs with fur have more hair follicles. Dogs with fur can also have double coats that are made up of a top coat and an undercoat. Hair, on the other hand, only has one layer and is much smoother and finer.
