Hair and Fur?

Factual Questions
1

Whats the difference (if any) between hair and fur?

I was once told that “fur” stops growing at a certain length, but hair doesn’t. I don’t quite buy that since our eyebrows and eyelashes (which I believe to be hair) to not droop to our necks.

Any idea? Is there a difference?

2

from Meriam-Webster OnLine[ol]fur The short, fine, soft hair of certain animals, growing thick on the skin, and distinguished from the hair, which is longer and coarser.[/ol]

3

Dictionary… that would have made too much sense to try.

Thanks. Fur=fine/short hair.

I can go to sleep again.

4

We’ve covered this somewhere and some time before.

If I remmeber from bio class correctly, fur is hair more densely packed on the body, covering most, if not all of the body surfaces (excepting the fore and hind feet). Fur usually has two different types of hair, a very dense undergrowth (good for repelling water) and a thinner overcoat (good for absorbing or reflecting heat, and looking good to the opposite sex).

Fur is more hair in a smaller area. Hair will fall out after a certain growth: eyebrows and eyelashes will usually stop growing after a certain point. There are exceptions: (former)Roommate had a few eyebrow hairs that would reach below his lower lid, and I had a professor who looked like he was breeding a new prototype guinea pig (the ones with the weird hair whorls) over his eyes.

Hair: (hâr) n.

  1. Any of the cylindrical, keratinized, often pigmented filaments characteristically growing from the epidermis of a mammal.
  2. A growth of such filaments, as that forming the coat of an animal or covering the scalp of a human.
  3. A filamentous projection or bristle similar to a hair, such as a seta of an arthropod or an epidermal process of a plant.
  4. Fabric made from the hair of certain animals: a coat of alpaca hair.

Fur: (fûr) n.

  1. The thick coat of soft hair covering the skin of a mammal, such as a fox or beaver.
  2. The hair-covered, dressed pelt of such a mammal, used in the making of garments and as trimming or decoration.
  3. A garment made of or lined with the dressed pelt of a mammal.
  4. A coating similar to the pelt of a mammal.