Mammal hair varies greatly in texture from mammal to mammal. Are all hairs made of dift types of keratins or other materials? Are there structural differences? Why are hairs so different from one another?
― Buff Orpington (Abbbottt), Sunday, 13 March 2011 01:46 (fourteen years ago)
Chinchilla hair is sooooo soft. And rabbit. I don't do fur but if I did, it would be one of these.
Um OK I contributed zero to your questions, but just wanted to get my favorite furs out there.
― quincie, Sunday, 13 March 2011 21:15 (fourteen years ago)
The wikipedia article on keratins doesn't shed any direct light onto this question, but the great diversity of keratins and their part in forming skin and nails as well as fur and hair would suggest that dozens of different forms of keratin would lend themselves to different structures, with different qualities and characteristics.
As for why hairs differ from one another, I expect that most of the differences in terms of broad categories, like chin whiskers, pubes, arm hair and head hair, relate to evolution and genetic coding. Differences in two hairs growing side-by-side would be purely random and accidental.
― Aimless, Sunday, 13 March 2011 21:26 (fourteen years ago)