Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Finally, the recovered cow-like horns and absence of a continuous shelf of scales at the back of the skull separates Meiolania from its closest relative, Warkalania. Throughout this family tree, one can also observe a gradual decrease in the size of the A scales, which begin as a large shield-like structure in basal taxa like Niolamia and ...
Similar to species with horns or antlers, male giraffes use their ossicones as weapons during combat, where they use their heads as clubs: the ossicones add weight and concentrate the force of impact onto a small area, allowing it to deliver heavier blows with higher contact pressure. [4]
A pair of horns on a male impala Anatomy of an animal's horn. A horn is a permanent pointed projection on the head of various animals that consists of a covering of keratin and other proteins surrounding a core of live bone. Horns are distinct from antlers, which are not permanent.
True horns are found mainly among: Ruminant artiodactyls. Antilocapridae ; Bovidae (cattle, goats, antelopes etc.). Giraffidae: Giraffids have a pair of skin covered bony bumps on their heads, called ossicones. Cervidae: Most deer have antlers, which are not true horns due to lacking a bone core and made of keratin.
Because only skulls and horns of this species have been found well preserved, the size of B. latifrons is currently not clearly known. Based on leg bones, the mass of B. latifrons has been estimated to be 25-50 percent larger than that of modern B. bison, making it undoubtedly one of the largest-ever ruminants.
By positioning the horns more posteriorly, the output lever is shortened and, because the muscles used to rotate the skull dorsally attach at the top of the occipital plate, the input lever is lengthened. Thus, the dorsal strike with the horns would be more powerful as the ratio of output lever to input lever would be increased.
With fifteen well-developed horns and horn-like structures, it possessed the most ornate skull of any known dinosaur species. Kosmoceratops was a chasmosaurine ceratopsid and was originally suggested to be closely related to Vagaceratops (which also had forward-curving epiossifications on the back of the frill) but this has been debated, some ...
Common theories concerning the function of ceratopsian frills and horns include defense from predators, combat within the species, and visual display. A 2009 study of Triceratops and Centrosaurus skull lesions found that bone injuries on the skulls were more likely caused by intraspecific combat (horn-to-horn combat) rather than predatory attacks.