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this post was submitted on 14 Oct 2023
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Today I Learned
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I'd like to subscribe to horse facts, please.
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Horses produce roughly 10 gallons of saliva per day!
That, I didn't want to know.
There's a fungus that grows on clover, that if eaten makes horses salivate more.
"Slobbers" normally isn't anything but annoying, but it actually can cause dehydration if the horse doesn't have access to water
Son, I'm disappointed in you
We should use horse saliva as a humane milk replacement.
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Unlike humans, horses aren’t able to vomit!
Keep them coming!
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A horse’s heart typically weighs 4–4.5kg (around 2lbs) and is about the size of a basketball!
Next fact about horse semen!
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Thoroughbred horse semen is the most expensive liquid in the world!
But my friends don’t appreciate it when I order shots of it instead of tequila.
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If you see a horse with a red ribbon tied to its tail, stay back – it’s a kicker!
Who had the balls to tie the ribbon on the tail of a kicker lol
Horses have bones in their legs called splint bones. They are vestigial metacarpals from back when they had 3 toes. As of yet we can't find any role they perform. If damaged or removed it can lead to chronic lameness a condition in horses that will often lead to death.
That seems to imply they perform a structural role, unless I’m oversimplifying it?
I’m a bit of an anthropology geek, and am super interested in vestigial traits. I have one: the ‘elf ear’, or Darwin’s Tubercal. Mine turns down, not out, so I’m not genetically lucky enough to cosplay as an elf. I kinda feel ripped off.
e: ha, I’m a better example than the wiki picture. Anyone can feel free to use my picture, it’s a pretty good example.
As far as we can tell they perform no role at all. They are only about the size of a finger, have no major tendon or ligament attachments and do not connect to another bone. There may have been new research in the last few years that I am unaware of that sheads some new light. They are considered a bit of a mystery.
What about half elf. You know left and right half
I could go half elf. :)
I’m very interested in learning how damage to vestigial anatomy can cause lameness. That’s fascinating and makes a lot of sense.
You’ve sent me down a rabbit hole of horse anatomy, and I appreciate that.
Trust me you are not the only one who is interested in why this happens. There have been a few papers written on it. But I think the reality is the funding doesn't exist to explore it. There are a lot more important and money making things to research about horses.
Sounds like a role to me.
Role playing vestigial traits is my new band name.
e: In all seriousness, it does sound like a role, even if we can’t figure it out. Turns out the appendix and tonsils have a role, though we didn’t know what until recently.
It doesn’t seem lameness should result from damage to a purely vestigial trait, but I’m no expert.
The one horse fact I know is that violin bows (and presumably all viol* and string bass bows) use tail hair from male horses, never female, to avoid using pee-drenched hairs.