Animal Armaments: Evolution Girds Species for Battle [Slide Show]
For predation, defense or dominance, evolution has weaponized bodily features on many species to give them the upper horn, tusk, tooth or pincer in the fight for survival
![Animal Armaments: Evolution Girds Species for Battle [Slide Show]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/FB0DB0D8-A0F7-4349-9E133C3832615BD6.jpg?w=590&h=393)
Animal Armaments: Evolution Girds Species for Battle [Slide Show]
- Animal Weapons Animals can wage fierce warfare, and are often aided by specialized bodily weapons that have evolved on many species, both extant and extinct. “Brutal and beautiful, extreme weapons have cropped up repeatedly during the unfolding of the history of life,” biologist Douglas J... Excerpted from Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle, by Douglas J. Emlen; illustrations by David J. Tuss. To be published November 18, 2014, by Henry Holt and Co., LLC. Copyright © 2014 Douglas J. Emlen. All rights reserved.
- EARLY HORNS The horns of trilobites, an extinct group of marine arthropods, are some of the earliest animal weapons to evolve in the history of life. Excerpted from Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle, by Douglas J. Emlen; illustrations by David J. Tuss. To be published November 18, 2014, by Henry Holt and Co., LLC. Copyright © 2014 Douglas J. Emlen. All rights reserved.
- FLY “ANTLERS” The “antlers” on New Guinean “moose flies” are only about 6 millimeters long, yet relative to the size of the animals who carry them they are massive. Excerpted from Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle, by Douglas J. Emlen; illustrations by David J. Tuss. To be published November 18, 2014, by Henry Holt and Co., LLC. Copyright © 2014 Douglas J. Emlen. All rights reserved.
- AMBUSH PREDATORS The fang tooth, umbrella eel and anglerfish are all sea creatures that surprise predators with massive jaws and teeth. “Deep-sea ambush predators often use lures—dangling globs of light that act like beacons in the immense blackness of the extreme deep,” according to Emlen... Excerpted from Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle, by Douglas J. Emlen; illustrations by David J. Tuss. To be published November 18, 2014, by Henry Holt and Co., LLC. Copyright © 2014 Douglas J. Emlen. All rights reserved.
- SABER TEETH Saber-toothed cats probably leapt from trees onto unsuspecting mastodon calves. “Cats use their canines to puncture thick hides and sever the spinal cords of prey,” Emlen writes. Excerpted from Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle, by Douglas J. Emlen; illustrations by David J. Tuss. To be published November 18, 2014, by Henry Holt and Co., LLC. Copyright © 2014 Douglas J. Emlen. All rights reserved.
- SOLDIER INSECTS In the development of social insects like ants and termites, soldiers and workers evolved independently and diverged considerably in form. Here are four examples of soldier insects: biting and squirting termites, and army and trap-jaw ants... Excerpted from Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle, by Douglas J. Emlen; illustrations by David J. Tuss. To be published November 18, 2014, by Henry Holt and Co., LLC. Copyright © 2014 Douglas J. Emlen. All rights reserved.
- ELEPHANT TUSKS Relatives of the African elephant developed diverse weaponry. For example, Columbian mammoth tusks extended almost five meters and weighed more than 90 kilograms apiece. Anancus, a smaller cousin of mammoths, stood only three meters tall but the paired tusks of bulls reached nearly four meters long... Excerpted from Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle, by Douglas J. Emlen; illustrations by David J. Tuss. To be published November 18, 2014, by Henry Holt and Co., LLC. Copyright © 2014 Douglas J. Emlen. All rights reserved.
- DOMINANT BEETLES Battling male beetles lock horns to fight. Larger males tend to dominate smaller ones, gaining mating rights with available females. Excerpted from Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle, by Douglas J. Emlen; illustrations by David J. Tuss. To be published November 18, 2014, by Henry Holt and Co., LLC. Copyright © 2014 Douglas J. Emlen. All rights reserved.
- UNUSUAL WEAPONS Synthetoceras, an early ungulate relative of the camel, sprouted a pair of horns from the back of its head, along with a huge, forked horn protruding up from its snout. Arsinothere was another ungulate with unusual weapons in the form of large, curved horns bursting from the front of its head... Excerpted from Animal Weapons: The Evolution of Battle, by Douglas J. Emlen; illustrations by David J. Tuss. To be published November 18, 2014, by Henry Holt and Co., LLC. Copyright © 2014 Douglas J. Emlen. All rights reserved.
