Spec evo short : the practical uses of horns and antlers

Manta sleep link : bit.ly/3BsvSp2
Code : UHC
Horns and antlers are often impressive and striking structures used to make fictitious creatures more fearsome or combative, but how are they actually used and what are the types of horn? Let's find out.
Mark witton's blog post on horned theropods : markwitton-com.blogspot.com/2...

[@abeltotallynotdnsclientors5054]

"Very flamboyant stabbing" is a new sentence I wish I could use in a normal convesation now

[@JurgMudveins]

Gonna use it at work tomorrow. Don't know how, don't know at who but imma do it

[@purplehaze2358]

As someone who's currently working on a very large writing project that requires quite a bit of detail in terms of anatomical description for the creatures therein - with quite a few having horns - that division of horns into three main sections and names _for_ their sections is nothing short of a godsend for me. My deepest of gratitude for sharing that bit of knowledge with me.

[@spinalspiral9901]

Dog you are the top comment on every one of his videos.

[@spinalspiral9901]

​@@Redlucariorioluwtf

[@the_blue_jay_raptor]

Could Iguanodon have antlers made of keratin like my Iguanodon oc Stormsonar

[@Redlucarioriolu]

@spinalspiral9901 woops sorry I must have pressed my keyboard by mistake

[@beneficent2557]

Write well my friend

[@MichaelZesty]

Gotta say, as a south African, I really appreciate that you went out of your way to get the pronunciation of gemsbok and Kalahari. Just the thoroughness and work ethic I've come to love about your work.

[@MichaelZesty]

Also the idea of a horned hyena is totally metal, I love it

[@barwintg]

Sup your right

[@adriaanschoombie8573]

Let's not forget Steenbok as well! This guy is dedicated.

[@Tobipal]

Monster hunter is epic

[@tigris115]

U think he spent time in South Africa?

[@Dinoman9877]

The lethality of horns and antlers can often be overstated in popular media. Over half of predator deaths by buffalo are actually caused by crushing, not impalement. There is a video on youtube of a mother gazelle constantly ramming a baboon to get it off of her fawn. The baboon seems to treat it more like an irritant, and only runs off when it gets annoyed, but it hardly takes any life-threatening injuries. Wolves in Yellowstone actively target male elk with large antlers during winter months, as the autumn rut has left them worn out, and the antlers are actually a hindrance in self-defense and potential escape routes, as they are too large and unwieldy to effectively use against a mobbing pack of small, agile carnivores, and can get caught up in stands of trees. Horns and antlers are VERY lethal weapons when they hit home. Many are just far too large, curved, and unwieldy to do so consistently, which is more than likely one of many reasons even horned and antlered animals still flee from carnivores.

[@georgethompson1460]

It seems to me that the inglorious kick of hooved animals is a more dangerous weapon than the flashy horn, especially since it can be done to a persuing enemy while running away.

[@jayemover_16]

@@georgethompson1460 Kicks are definitely highly lethal. Unlike horns, which are dictated by neck muscles, kicks are dictated by the leg muscles that the animal runs away on and thus uses much more. On top of that, you have the hoof, which is the equivalent of being kicked by steel-toed boots compared to just a foot.

[@catpoke9557]

I think the reason most ungulates don't use their horns as weapons against predators, is because most ungulates are tall. It's hard and impractical to hit the vitals when you're so tall, so they use their feet instead. Animals whose horns are below the vitals of predators use them to fight. Think rhinos, which are intentionally super short, and ceratopsians, which combatted tall bipedal theropods.

[@Sara3346]

​@@catpoke9557...and muskoxen probably too?

[@wildcatxpert676]

The statement about wolves and elk isn’t actually true. Metz et al. (2018) found that wolves selected for bull elk that dropped their antlers early, despite being in better body condition than bulls that still had their antlers. Even though antlers weren’t really used directly as an anti predator defense, they were most definitely a deterrent, and this could be the reason why elk retain their antlers for so much longer than other cervids.

[@justusb.plorer8773]

I'm surprised you didn't mention pterosaurs when talking about the presence of cranial ornamentation in flying animals. They're not well suited for fighting, but something like that would still look great on a dragon.

[@Rodrigo_Vega]

Thought the same. They also get pretty extreme in some cases like Nyctosaurus, and some look pretty robust like Tupuxuara or Geosternbergia.

[@WalkinStereotype]

@@Rodrigo_VegaWhile no evidence exists yet, it would not be surprising to me if some with stronger crests jousted like hornbills, or if some very lightly fenced on the ground with their crests

[@ethanhess8230]

Some pterosaur crests probably actually aided in flying, acting as a rudder or a counterweight. It would be cool to see this implemented in some sort of dragon design

[@justusb.plorer8773]

@@ethanhess8230 The rudder theory seems pretty unlikely given the extreme sexual dimorphism we see in pterosaurs, as well as just being aerodynamically impractical. If the crests had a practical function, we would expect to see similar shapes in males and females.

[@prasetyodwikuncorojati2434]

@@ethanhess8230 but it doesn't explain why often only males that have such big crest. Female often have smaller headgear

[@agisuru]

Cape Buffalo have a significant record of killing predators, yes, but I wouldn't count them purely to horn effectiveness in combat. The cape buffalo is just such a massive and muscular animal that it could very easily kill by trampling, especially in a great herd that begins to stampede. Their horns are often used to toss predators like stag beetles do, which isn't really using the goring point or the horn itself at all, just neck and shoulder muscles.

[@error404idnotfound3]

“Short” “23 minutes” This is why I love your channel. Unironically.

[@alloraptorgen2]

An idea I had for the useless dragon horns is that it is meant to be a handle used by the males when mating. Reptilian like creatures often bite to secure the female when mating. Dragons may have evolved a way to make this event much safer for the female. It also could be a way for males to subdue each other. First one to grab the horn and pin the other down wins. Either way, I think with creatures so large and with such teeth having a safe place to bite when needing to be precise could be an advantage. It could also be a way to display ones health too or be an indicator if a female is a good breeder if her horns are scratched up enough. Just some one off thoughts.

[@Agvazela_Vega]

I like how much you’ve thought about how dragons would realisticly fuck.

[@alloraptorgen2]

@@Agvazela_Vega hey. There is a saying among biologists. If you can’t figure out it’s function, it’s probably for mating.

[@yanaskhoir3657]

Those only work on Low Level Dragon ,High Level Dragon can do Homonification mean them can breed with other race without problem 😂 Source:Dragon Aspect(Warcraft),Dovakiin(EldersScrolls),Cathayan Dragon(Warhammer Fantasy),Kobayashi Maid Dragon Etc.

[@alloraptorgen2]

@@yanaskhoir3657 no. Just no.

[@TornaitSuperBird]

@@yanaskhoir3657 You don't know what channel you're on, do you?

[@tokilladaemon]

Its worth mentioning - long horns like on an ibex or whatever have the point of the horn swept a long way back towards their tail. this always confused me because they can't use them for forward thrust, but they're useful because the animal can jerk their head backwards and gore a predator who's trying to grab them from behind

[@magnarcreed3801]

Fr. Watched a video like that. Buck stood his ground, circled a few times when lunged at and the preds walked away.

[@captaint.tearex9279]

Hell yeah, we love our boy UHC getting sponsored!!!!!!

[@WalkinStereotype]

Talking of theropods with horns, I would very much like to see a video on the known and speculated dinosaur mating rituals that we see preserved in fossils, from dances to combat, and possibly discuss media’s portrayal of them, such as Prehistoric Planet, Jurassic Park (the novel), and Dinosauria. It’s a fairly recently tapped field, but one I love.

[@reubencaldwell8494]

Sometimes I like imagine what a video about the creatures in Made In Abyss would be like, especially regarding the concept of the Curse/Force-Field. Like the Corpse Weepers that imitate the cries of their prey to lure more victims to their colonies, the mind reading and ultra aggressive herbivore the orbed piercer, and the Turbinad Dragon that seems immune to the curse and seems to have some form of command over the other primeval creatures.

[@AngriestPeanut]

I second this idea, we need a breakdown for the creatures of the Abyss

[@temporal712]

To your point on the purpose of Dragon Horns on already weaponized animals. At least in monster Hunter, it has been shown that a lot of the Elder Dragons' Elemental Abilities/breaths and the control therein are linked to their horns. Fatalis, Alatreon, Kushala Daora, Teostra, Lunastra, and both Gore and Shagaru Magala all reference their horns helping control their elemental abilities. So monster hunter dragon horns, not only as a Sexual Display, but some form of sensory organ for their more fantastical abilities.

[@dudotolivier6363]

Keep in mind that is still a popular theory and consensus inside the games universe. Not a proven fact. There a lot of Dragons and others monsters which generate their abilities and powers, whithout the help of their horns, and who even haven't horns at all. And who generate their elements and skills in plenty others ways. The exact identical same buff or skills in two differents monsters can be apply by two complete differents moves. And even when horns are broken, most of the monsters still are capable to use even after that the same abilities and skills at the same level of power anyway.

[@ASpaceOstrich]

@@dudotolivier6363 Being able to outright disable or change monster attacks by destroying parts would be an awesome addition to the game. Its something Horizon did quite well that I wish MH had too. If a monster directs lightning with a horn destroying the horn could make it so that the next time the monster tries to use the lightning, it backfires and stuns it, and afterwards the monster either stops using the lightning at all, or uses it while grounded or otherwise in a different way. In Horizon destroying or removing certain components can be critical to actually winning the fight, while in MH I'm not entirely sure if breaking parts actually does anything at all. Even cutting the tail doesn't seem to actually stop the tail based attacks. But I'm also pretty new to MH so maybe it does.

[@dumbsterdives]

@ASpaceOstrich Usually rather than outright stopping attacks it weakens them. Like you said, the tail being cut doesn't stop tail attacks, but it does reduce their effectiveness. Chalk that one up to reflexes/instinct not yet accounting for the loss. In at least one case Pukei-Pukei, it does turn one of its more dangerous attacks into a laughably weak attempt at the attack, so theres that.

[@fancygecko8936]

@@ASpaceOstrich Broken parts very often soften up tough armor weaken attacks or can topple the monster either immediately following the break or after the monster performs a specific attack involving the now broken part. Well, that's how it used to be anyway. In 5th gen but ESPECIALLY rise part breaks are mostly just bonus rewards now.

[@ASpaceOstrich]

@@fancygecko8936 Ah. I guess I never really noticed how tough a part was unless it was tough enough to make me bounce.

[@catpoke9557]

For triceratops, I think fencing when fighting predators, but they would probably do wrestling when fighting each other. Styracosaurus was definitely a stabber, despite its horn being so long.

[@artistandhisdogs1351]

I'd really appreciate a video about spec evo of birds. Whenever I look up references on the subject, it just doesn't feel like birds get explored as much as reptiles or mammals.

[@Cottonmouth255]

Have you checked out Serina: The World of Birds? It’s one of the best spec evo projects out there.

[@catpoke9557]

Interestingly, if you make bird spec evo, you'll find that they usually just start to look like various dinosaurs that existed in the past.

[@artistandhisdogs1351]

@@Cottonmouth255 Serina is a great example. I guess I feel like its the only example I know of. Itd be great to see what more creators have done with it. The only other notable example I can think of is Dougal Dixon's Vortex and Porpin.

[@terabytewarrior2019]

Something I wish you mentioned more is how the type of and size of headgear in horned or antlered animals is very closely tied to the environments said animals are found in. For example, horns with a sloped, backwards facing shape like those of the Bongo are better suited for slinking through the forest underbrush than the forward curling horns of a Wildebeest. There have also been studies comparing presence of horns or tusks in closed or open spaces and with small or larger ungulates and it was found that smaller, forest dwelling species were much more little to use tusks and larger, open space species were far more likely to have horns/antlers. Similarly, horns or antlers were more common with social animals while solitary species tended to use tusks. I think a follow-up video exploring these intricasies would be really cool to see!

[@kerianhalcyon2769]

Worth noting on the flying animals and horns, I would have included pterosaurs in that list at the end too. While they probably didn't use them for traditional fighting for obvious reasons, many species of pterosaur had impressive headgear that in many cases carries over to females of their species (albeit in their case, much shorter, almost like a pronounced ridge as opposed to a crest) suggesting that there's some sort of feature in the crest that carries over to both besides species and sex identification.

[@Weriartysmok]

I couldn't help but notice the lack of pterosaurs mentioned in regards to flying animals with horns as some are known for having display crest. Though given they were pure display over actual combat with some being far from horn like, it is sort of understandable.

[@TheBudgetMuseum]

It's always a good time when you upload! Truly one of the best channels on this site!

[@colehaney8836]

You gotta love it when a “short” episode is still over 20 minutes. You’ve been feeding us WELL uhc!

[@kylet8924]

A video like this but for claws and talons would be another great topic which could lead into feet

[@Sara3346]

Part of the problem hink defining feet and claws is tricky. It might not seem so at first but anamalia is very diverse. Should birds wings count as feet when they can't use them to walk? Should seals still be considered to have feet, plenty still have claws? Sure taxonomically you could both to yes as both once we're weight bearing structures at the end of limbs. Functionally they are not that any more though. It gets even more confusing in limbed invertebrates for me I see a grasshopper and I feel like it has feet, but what about a crab or a centipede, they just have claws, does that count? What about spines growths ot erupting from a weight bearing organ at the end of a limb? Do those automatically stop being claws. Most cockroaches for example use the entire limb for gripping and exerting force when crawling through tight spaces which is something they can be found doing often even in their natural habitats. (This is far less the case for arboreal and sand dwelling roaches though that's why I said most( Sorry if I'm being stupid or pedantic I'm not trying to be .

[@kylet8924]

@@Sara3346 these are all excellent point I didn’t consider but this would make the video all the more interesting. The content could be broken up into a series of videos to cover wings and foot design. I don’t know enough about insect feet or wings but that could be their own video. Since i would like to learn more. As for claws we could look at just claws and nails and what we can infer about animals from there shape and size. Ie how dog have claws that help them grip the ground versus cats which are to grapple prey. Compared to badgers and mole claws for digging. Or why primates have nails and not claws (climbing and grooming probably).

[@rylanbrewer3320]

@@kylet8924what fictional creations could we use

[@BiggestAdam]

You could talk about herbivorous animals with very herbivorous defensive traits adapting to aggressive predatory niches and transforming those traits into carnivorous ones. (I.e. a porcupine retaining it’s spines as it for whatever reason becomes predatory.)

[@jessehunter362]

there isn't really such a thing as "herbivorous defensive traits". There are carnivorous animals with lots of spines, like in the porcupine, but the spines are still defensive traits, even when they belong to a carnivore, and they don't really vary that much from porcupines except in how well developed and complex the porcupine spines are.

[@BiggestAdam]

@@jessehunter362 My apologies, by herbivorous defensive traits I meant traits held by specific modern herbivores (porcupine example). Not as in traits that can only be found in herbivores.

[@alcyon7536]

Those traits would likely be lost cuz it is more important for a predator to be streamlined and camouflaged than it is for it to have heavy headwear such as horns or cumbersome spikes on its back

[@BiggestAdam]

@@alcyon7536 that’s true, that’s exactly why it’d be cool to get a video speculating on it.

[@omage3457]

@@alcyon7536​​⁠ it could be retained if they are small predators to protect from larger predators, like the armor of pangolins and armadillos (both are carnivores).

[@g1sunstreaker584]

I honestly find the spec evo shorts some of your most fascinating content. It's a great package of information I feel I would likely struggle to find as neatly condensed elsewhere, and with how broad these topics are they can provide additional insight into previous videos for specific monsters or other creatures of fiction. Please keep them coming!

[@alejandroelluxray5298]

Gotta say, the wide variety of horns and how are they classifided is very interesting and also great, and it amazes me how mammals have diversified these structures on so many different ways all for the similar purposses, evolution is truly something incredible and learning how each one of them works is great as well On the topic of horned theropods, I think the horns would be small to avoid unbalancing the center of gravity of the animal while still be relatively prominent for use on duels for mating or territory, and for what I remember, ceratosaurus "horns" were more for display as those were very fragile for any real intraspecific combat

[@blackhammer5035]

Alternative title: challenge mode: UHC talks about horns on predators for 20 minutes without mentioning Magnamalo

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

There was actually a segment slandering him in the script but I ultimately cut it

[@ASpaceOstrich]

@@unnaturalhistorychannel I was expecting Nergigante to come up, although I suppose thats more spines than horns. If a predator had an easy enough supply of prey could herbivore-like showboating develop in predators? Like how expensive ornaments show fitness in males, could such an ornament show fitness in a predator who's able to survive despite a handicap? The Monsters in MH seem like they're never going to have trouble taking down the comparitively glacial Aptonoth.

[@dianslabbert504]

We had Blesbok on our property some time ago. Then at one point in time a small group of Impala/Rooibok managed to get in from a neighbouring property owned by a guy who breeds antelope to be sent to zoos and reserves. When the Impala arrived we noticed the Blesbok numbers were dwindling and we started finding the carcass of their calves and some of the adults. We thought it might have been a case of poaching happening, but it turned out it was actually the Impala rams who were the culprit. They were killing the Blesbok, both male and female, calf and adult, with their horns. It was cornfirmed when a worker of ours saw it happen with his own eyes. However, the impala seem alright to peacefully coexist with the Nyalas.

[@bonejangles]

I’m not sure how much of it is just speculation, but I really like Dinosaur Revolution’s take on T-Rex conflict. After visual and audio displays don’t work and the altercation gets physical, they do bite each other’s faces, but the ultimate goal seems to instead be to take the opponent’s arms off. If those disproportionately strong arms do play a role in breeding by gripping, then targeting them could clearly display dominance while inhibiting a loser’s ability to breed without having the risk of those bone crushing jaws being used on more vital areas

[@colinbaldwin313]

Great video. Another fascinating example of a prehistoric horned animal is the Ceratogaulus, or horned gopher, the only rodent ever known to have possessed such ornaments. Judging from the skeleton, they seemed to have pretty straight stabbers, and no sexual dimorphism is believed to have existed in regard to them. Since they were fossorial animals, the horns may have played a role in digging, which is another intriguing function of horns. Off the top of my head, I can't think of an actual horned animal that uses its ornaments primarily for excavation, but I could plumb spec evo and cite After Man's water hornhead (Cornudens rastrostrius) and woolly gigantelope (Megalodorcas borealis).

[@idle_speculation]

If I had a nickel for every spec evo channel with impossibly smooth sponsor transitions, I’d have 2 nickels. It’s not a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice.

[@lucasrios1556]

I took my boy to the ranch one day, it was his first time. When we pull my dad let’s us know that there is a goat stuck in the feeding fence, she stuck her whole head, horns too, and she couldn’t get out. He gave my some limb loppers and told me and my buddy to take care of it. When we got to the site, we saw the goat, she was scared, clearly. So I started using the limb loppers on the fence, but it was REAL tough. 7-8 mins pass and my dad comes and starts chewing me out “NOT THE FENCE YOU GOAT-ROPE!! THE F**KING HORNS! YOU ARE F**KING UP MY TOOLS!!” And me and my friend exchanged looks. We decided he would hold the head and I would cut the horns. He did hold the head and I did cut the horns and idk which was worse the screams of that goat (they sound human) or the fact that everytime the goat would take a breath blood would spurting out from the horn, getting on my friend and I. Both of us look back and share laughs, it’s a nice story, but we were both low key traumatized lol Edit: by ‘boy’ I mean ‘boi’ or friend

[@Raiethstar]

When it comes to dinosaurs I’ve always seen animals with more head decoration being more aggressively social in general. Also I feel that animals that have no boney decorations, but we know lived in large groups, were probably strikingly coloured. Like zebras or showy birds.

[@spoopa7733]

Have you ever thought of checking out Pikmin? The Piklopedia can be strangely indepth about the biology of the wildlife in the games

[@Sara3346]

Yeah, and It seems heavily hinted that it's a future earth scenario with the descendants of lots of transgenic organisms about. The trouble is how far in the future? The geography seems changed, but that could have been the result of an especially advanced humanity rather than natural geology. A big topic he could use to teach could be on photosynthetic animals how pikim compare to real world flatworms, jellyfish, seaslugs and (yes) salamanders. With the last group probably having the most in common... Also I'm sorry but...err ..was the in-game terminology not the "Pikilopedia" or is my memory off?

[@PurplePartyParasaur]

As always this was incredibly well put together and fun to learn about. Logic such as that in your videos is in my opinion the absolute best take on the whole speculative evolution genre

[@tootbender6935]

This video made me realize how shallow my understanding of horns were, it'll be a massive help when I design dragons from now on.

[@rvvahl2025]

You should`ve probably talked at least a little bit about the structure and growth mechanisms of various horns and antlers (and the difference between those) since that`s kinda crucial to what shape they can possibly take (e.g. bovid horns never branching).

[@The_PokeSaurus]

At the museum I volunteer at I love telling people about Big John, and how Triceratops fought each other more than they fought Tyrannosaurus.

[@ASpaceOstrich]

It took me 1 hour and 30 minutes to watch this 23 minute video because I alternated between gushing about what I was learning to a friend and fastidiously rewatching sections to make sure I heard sentences correctly (you sometimes launch into the next sentence a bit too quickly for me to keep up). Such an interesting subject and I'm so glad I found this channel. Regarding ideas for future shorts. As an Australian, I've noted that a lot of the stuff you bring up doesn't apply here because of our seeming complete lack of megafauna, and thats got me interested in what ecological effects such an unusual ecosystem has. I understand you often tie these topics into Monster Hunter, and the MH universe has the exact opposite problem. That could make for an interesting video though. What fills the gap in ecology in the abscence of the typical species, i.e. what keeps dingos in check in Australia when they're the top order carnivore and there are no wolf analogues to suppress their numbers? Or more broadly and more applicable to Monster Hunter, what effects on ecology would the abundance of megafauna and the existence of "super-mega" fauna have. I'd imagine such large animals would both require and potentially create much more nutritious plantlife thanks to their massive bodies. Perhaps similar to whalefall. Another possible topic would be adaptation to human behaviour and human environments. I've heard of birds developing shorter, more agile wings due to human caused mortality in those that can't avoid cars. In the world of Monster Hunter, how might the presence of Hunters be driving morphological and behavioural changes in the Monsters?

[@laddismaximus9535]

I’ve really come to love your work over the year or so I’ve been watching. The depth of which you bring to each video is astounding, even the first one I watched, the Deviljho video, was ripe with information and ties to the real world. As a wildlife and conservation biology major, I hope that I can be even just a little like you when the time comes for me to make big writing projects like this.

[@gabbrooh9126]

I really enjoyed these type of topics it helps with creature design and understanding of horns, great UHC hoping for more type of videos

[@brandonbreaux1296]

I always enjoy your videos; giving your sources and being so thorough is extremely helpful. And even though I’ve read so much on animals I always learn something new with you, so thank you for that.

[@Squaresmoothbrain]

I would say that carnivorins don't really need horns since cat claws are curved and made for hooking rather than slicing, bear claws are kinda blunt, and the teeth mammals generally use for fighting, the canines, are relatively blunt and evolved for puncturing and holding in comparison to the serated bone knives of the horned theropods that were evolved to be much sharper for cutting (except for spinosaurs and tyrannosaurs but you already covered T. rex and spinosaurs had claws and sails)

[@Sara3346]

...and many carnivores at do frequently fight ares less likely than a half chance to be killed attempting it? Because creatures like brown bears and elephant seals which compete inteapecifically plenty have a lot of protective fat, skin, muscle muscle and bone between their ousides and their vitals.... That could be an especially relevant factor yes? Those without souch as comondo dragons can still wrestle and I imagine that goes for many other species... Actually makes me think that maybe the lethality of kicking could be a larger factor for why ungulates developed hors so frequently? Sorry I'm just spitballing here.

[@Klinker0913]

Great video UHC! more general videos like this talking about anatomy of some animals would be awesome!

[@shrympcryptid]

As someone who's making a story heavily dragon based (with some speculative and fantasy sprinkled into it), this is very helpful!

[@williansnobre]

3:28 I have it as head canon that the reason why you can get Blos Heart by breaking Monoblos' horns is because they have a heart from another Monoblos skewered on the horn from a previous fight.

[@archellothewolf2083]

As someone building a space RPG, I'm glad I found this channel. lots of good ideas on why certain creatures would evolve on other planets.

[@ernestomejia8242]

Ie brings me great joy to see you bring sponsored, thanks for the hard work

[@indominuskillertyrant9470]

I'm glad someone recognise diablos

[@tipos6389]

Bro, the sound waves from your voice has the perfect frequency to knock someone out asleep. Literally fell asleep on my couch to this haha, great content.

[@g1sunstreaker584]

Oh, I'd love to see a video regarding electricity production/conductivity? Whatever the word is for that? Maybe the topic isn't big enough for a whole video, but I find it endlessly fascinating and would love to see a video breaking down electrogenic creatures like eels, bees, and platypus/echidnas.

[@fartoocritical9409]

I absolutely love spec evo shorts

[@readyskull0083]

This is why I'm glad I found this channel, this information is useful for world building my dnd world

[@matteoattardpullicino]

That was one f the smoothest segway to a sponsor ever.

[@Blio_]

“Very flamboyant stabbing” is a 10/10 phrase good job

[@TheSpeculativeDoodl]

Thank you *so* much! This’ll be great for my next spec bio projects!!

[@Dodoraptor4]

Thanks to this video, I found out that oryxes and sable antelopes, which I nicknamed “stab antelopes”, are not “stabbers” by definition… Also, surprised that ibexes count as fencers with all of the ramming they do. Looking at it more, shouldn’t they count as “ram first, then fence, rinse and repeat”?

[@benjaminjenkins2384]

This some real high quality weapons grade info ill never use in my life, appreciate it!

[@jamesabernethy7896]

Although this looked interesting from the title and the thumbnail... I LOVE THIS VIDEO. So fascinating and really rewarding in the way you explained it all.

[@Littlekoji-df1cf]

Thank u for this video. Will curtainly use the way that u described the different horns in my project. Love from Finland

[@nemanjastanimirovic155]

Okay now this has got me excited for when you make the gammoth video because I really think it's going to be interesting to see where they fit on this spectrum, both because the spiked trunk and the blunt tusks that seem to protrude from their lower jaws.

[@Stratelier]

That sponsor message transition was SMOOTH.

[@alcyon7536]

love me these spec evo shorts

[@WobblesandBean]

There is a strange red dot in the middle of the thumbnail image, and I can't unsee it.

[@floor_tile]

So, I dont know if you take suggestions, and its fine if you dont, but I recently got super into Rain World, and I think that the ecosystems of that game allow for a very fun exercise in speculative evolution. Sorry this is worded so weirdly, I cant talk lol.

[@youtoob6268]

Agreed a video on rain world would be awesome

[@spudato961]

I love Rain World and I'd love to see UHC's take on the biology of the world

[@fcomolineiro7596]

Rain world doesn't have that much of a ecosystem as much it has a mechanical-ecosystem

[@floor_tile]

@fcomolineiro7596 that still functions as an ecosystem. Not all off the creatures have been modified, and the ones that have just add a little spice to the overall biosphere(I think that's the right word, I didn't want to say ecosystem again)

[@fancygecko8936]

the problem with this is that none of the animals have much to go off of, it's more about how the ecosystem as a whole rather than the individual species within which wouldn't fit the deep dive format of the channel

[@edryu9688]

Definitely gonna save this video to come back to if I ever wanna think on the kinds of horns creatures I make can be done.

[@joytato]

loved the john darnielle cameo, nice surprise

[@playernotfound9489]

triceratops takes horns to the extreme. same with MOST ceratopsians but they had to deal with oversized jumbo birbs

[@hsdinoman2267]

always look forward to see new videos from you, i almost always seems to learn something new about our natural world

[@Lioleusu]

Great video as always.

[@troycoley-cn5bb]

Yet Another Fantastic Video

[@thobsandst]

Spec Evo is great keep it up!

[@colonelpillow3701]

Babe wake up UHC posted

[@pauljs75]

There are quite a few insects that have such features too. Surprised that was missed while going over the topic. Most are with beetles capable of flying, but the fighting for a mate or territory is all done while crawling on the ground.

[@bucketsaremyfriend]

I'm starting to think creators are deliberately slowing their videos, realizing so many people are watching at higher speeds.

[@humblemarty]

One of my Grandpa's longhorns has these *huge* horns that curl up into a Texas Twist. It's amazing watching animals handle horns and antlers because it's like a muscled tank with a bi-plane for a head.

[@user-qk4kg7xw8o]

Fantastic Video

[@brandonferrell828]

You got me thinking about a dragon with massive antlers and a young dragon with fork horn spikes lop. Thank you for this cool idea that I did not have before.

[@drukenmaninaunicornmask5826]

Great video! Super informational

[@lunarknightess7056]

Love biology and love monster Hunter (I think bc of the first statement) so I always love when people notice the detail in mh monsters, biology, ecology ❤❤ loved the references greetings from a bio student in mexico !

[@thelaughinghyenas8465]

This is good and interesting thoughts. I would love to see one on the practical uses of intelligence and creativity.

[@Newt2799]

I would love to see a part two. Maybe including some other horns or horn like structures, like the cassowary’s horn, pterodactyl horns, and even insect horns.

[@anything8805]

Love your types of videos would it be possible to cover the ecological of Godzilla and titans in the monster verses?

[@HindProto]

Not used to seeing the fauna of Star Wars brought up in your videos but I like it. A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. -also I'm gonna need to see a monster wearing a sleep mask for that sponsor segment-

[@xenotundra3346]

Feel like stag beetles and similar insects should have been at least mentioned as a footnote.

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

Agreed - my vertebrate bias showing. Perhaps a sequel to this is needed

[@Broomer52]

Whenever I think of horns I always think of the video of a Bull goring a man and shoving his horns straight through his lower jaw. You could actually see the horn come out his mouth.it was freaking brutal

[@Deckaio]

Are there any benefits of horns and antlers as "armor" ? While maybe not used as weapon, they seem to also make it harder for predators to attack the neck or back.

[@Thundernugget]

I guess stegosaurus and its relatives count

[@catpoke9557]

Yes. Horned lizards use their horns and spikes to protect their bodies from predators.

[@sspringNG]

New to your channel. You sound exactly like the kind of person who would be analyzing horns and antlers for fictional use. Nice video btw

[@purplehaze2358]

"See _Cabin In The Woods_ for a demonstration of a lethal unicorn attack. *If you can still stomach one of its writers" Should financially supporting said writer become an issue, you can always resort to the simple based option: Piracy!

[@tigris115]

Who? Whedon?

[@GhazMazMSM]

I'd love to see you cover the giant Flying animals of Spec Evo and whether or not they're feasible

[@timbomb374]

Man i never realised how long triceratops horns are till i saw the thumbnail

[@WobblesandBean]

This makes my zoologist heart happy

[@epicazeroth]

If only all shorts were this long!

[@lionessoftor4139]

Something to keep in mind animals don't want to put themselves in danger if they can avoid it. Most males will size each other up and do displays to end the fight before it starts. Bison, for example, will pace side by side and often the smaller males will back down realizing they are to outmatched to risk. Yes a male has the drive to get a mate but an injured animal is easy prey.

[@foiltarmogoyf6203]

I love how a short video is over 20 minutes.

[@frankienphil9261978]

Good video but I think discussing the differences between the different types of horns, antlers, and osicones would have been good

[@idle_speculation]

Ossicones are really weird too; if I recall, they’re dermal structures which ossify over time.

[@DefinitelyNotEmma]

15:30 it's funny to me that some people would unironically ask this, like animals aren't interested in self preservation lol

[@Raiders989]

For a suggestion You’ve done Astalos You’ve done Glavenus You’ve done Mizutsune PLEASE do Gammoth she my be the least favorite of the four but she still deserves love

[@unnaturalhistorychannel]

I’ll get to her in time!

[@nrdkraft]

In the flying category we mustn’t forget that many species of pterosaurs seem to be other good examples of flying creatures with elaborate tho lite head ornamentation, likely used basically only for display tho I could be behind on the latest research.

[@carolynallisee2463]

I remember reading a very succinct remark made by a paleontologist one time, when talking about the horns, crests and other facial adornments on theropods:- "Dead fighters can't mate." This remark was made in a book published in the 1980's, some time before such forms as Carnotaurus had been described. I don't know if any evidence for sexual dimorphism in theropod cranial features has been discovered, but this side of things may be worth investigating. We know that face biting was prevalent amongst the meat-eaters, most likely driven by intraspecies competition for territory and food. For the crested species, a lack of sexual dimorphism may indicate the crests were used as species recognition tools, and were possibly used in courtship and pair-bonding dances. For those whose facial ornaments seem more horn like, the sexual dimorphism question becomes even more relevant. We are used to seeing male animals in general fight for mates, but what if we need to think in terms of females fighting other females for the right to mate with a certain male? It seems that with T Rex at least, females were larger than their male counterparts. Could we have a situation where males fight amongst themselves to claim a prime display site to show off to females, with the females fighting amongst themselves to work out who gets to mate with the dominant male first?

[@AlexArthur94]

I can't comment on everything here, but from what I've read, the reason that females almost never fight for males, regardless of species, is because females are the limiting factor to reproduction. I'm sure there are a few exceptions, but in any environment I would expect that to be very rare. Females might fight each other over territory if they are bigger than males, but I don't think they'd fight for mates.

[@jamescampbell4416]

Homeboy’s always giving out great information! Keep at it UHC!

[@michaelwave863]

Nice