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There more than a symbol of the west. The horns of the bighorn sheep are the social currency through which these iconic animals have established
their hierarchies throughout generations.
These relatively simple anatomical features govern more aspects of the sheep's life than many may know.
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Across the most rugged and treacherous of North America's western terrain, the bighorn sheep is at home.
Though it may reach relative isolation in its remote habitat, it shares no such isolation from others of its species, and like many other hoofed
animals worldwide, is highly social.
For most of the year, male and female bighorns live in separate social groups.
The primary visual indicator that differentiates these two groups is the appearance of the sheeps' horns.
These horns, made of keratin, are a permanent fixture on each bighorn, and are a specialized feature of the sheep's anatomy that differs by age and sex.
The horns of the female sheep are relatively small and lack the significantly curving growth pattern of the male's horns.
For a female, these horns develop their characteristic features by the age of four.
Female bighorn, leading family groups consisting of other females and their young, don't utilize their horns in the same way that males do,
though they have been known in some regions to use their horns to obtain food from the guarded body of the barrel cactus.
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The horns of the male bighorn are distinct from those of the female, and perform entirely different functions.
The males' horns continue growing in a curving pattern, and by the time a sheep is around eight years old, may reach around the entirety of the sheep's head.
Males live together in separate herds, called "bachelor herds", and within these herds, a social hierarchy is enforced among the males.
The order of such a hierarchy is established by the sheep's primary indicator of age and fitness - its horns.
The oldest males in each bachelor herd may have horns weighing around 30 lbs.
Because these horns continue to grow throughout a sheep's life, males often have to maintain them by breaking off the ends.
But perhaps the greatest implementation of the males' horns occurs during the mating season, the one period of time in which males and females
end their social separation.
During this time, bighorn males use their large horns and specialized, shock-absorbing skulls to butt heads in a form of competition
to establish which males will be able to mate with the females.
Mating with males that are able to successfully defeat their opponents presumably ensures that the females are mating with the fittest
of potential mates.
As such, the horns of the bighorn sheep are not only critical on an individual basis, but as a force in the survival of the species.
By establishing and maintaining the social structures of sheep, differentiating between sexes and clarifying breeding status, the horns of the sheep transcend
the limitations of simple anatomical features and act as a contributor to many of the most significant aspects of this iconic animal's biology.
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