Head to head: the case for fighting behaviour inMegaloceros giganteususing finite-element analysis
| Autor: | Stephen Wroe, Ada J. Klinkhamer, James M. Neenan, Philip Clausen, Adrian M. Lister, Nicholas Woodley, William C. H. Parr, Marcelo R. Sánchez-Villagra, Gabriele Sansalone |
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| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
0303 health sciences General Immunology and Microbiology biology Head to head Megaloceros Zoology General Medicine biology.organism_classification 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology 03 medical and health sciences Extant taxon Cervus elaphus General Agricultural and Biological Sciences 030304 developmental biology General Environmental Science |
| Zdroj: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 286:20191873 |
| ISSN: | 1471-2954 0962-8452 |
| DOI: | 10.1098/rspb.2019.1873 |
| Popis: | The largest antlers of any known deer species belonged to the extinct giant deerMegaloceros giganteus. It has been argued that their antlers were too large for use in fighting, instead being used only in ritualized displays to attract mates. Here, we used finite-element analysis to test whether the antlers ofM. giganteuscould have withstood forces generated during fighting. We compared the mechanical performance of antlers inM. giganteuswith three extant deer species: red deer (Cervus elaphus), fallow deer (Dama dama) and elk (Alces alces). Von Mises stress results suggest thatM. giganteuswas capable of withstanding some fighting loads, provided that their antlers interlocked proximally, and that their antlers were best adapted for withstanding loads from twisting rather than pushing actions, as are other deer with palmate antlers. We conclude that fighting inM. giganteuswas probably more constrained and predictable than in extant deer. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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