[ExI] IQ and beauty

[rex]

John Clark <johnkclark at gmail.com> [2015-10-20 09:46]:
>    On Mon, Oct 19, 2015 at 1:44 PM, spike <[1]spike66 at att.net> wrote:
> 
>      ​> ​This could result in the kinds of fatal injuries we should be able
>      to find in the fossils: Mickey's huge antlers could break Minnie's
>      spine, or conk her on the head leaving a visible divot in her skull,
> 
>    ​The antlers must have had enormous angular momentum because the were 9
>    feet across, but they only weighed 90 pounds so were unlikely to break a
>    female's back, and they were blunt soft and weak so the chances of causing
>    damage to the bones of a predator that was so severe we could see it today
>    would be about the same as the chances of receiving a serious injury from
>    a pillow fight. Well... maybe I exaggerate a little but only a little. 

Current prevailing opinion appears to be that the horns were used as signals,
not weapons. They are positioned in such a way that rotation around the long
axis (minimal rotational inertia) flashes the broad "palm" of the horn, so
no head-swinging was needed to use the horns as 'designed.'

Signaling rather than fighting is a win-win for both parties, so it's
unsurprising that it has evolved.

-rex