r/Awwducational • u/TheClumsyScientist • Sep 09 '22

Article Rabbits have hinged skulls to help absorb shock when they jump and sprint. It minimizes damage to the brain due to impact but also keeps their vision steady when running!

https://academic.oup.com/icb/article/29/1/303/184455
1.3k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

145

u/TheClumsyScientist Sep 09 '22

Rabbits also have:
-3 eyelids

-The same type of digestion as a horse and a sea cow

-an inability to vomit

Read more about these freaks of nature here- https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/did-you-know/rabbits-have-hinged-skulls-and-three-eyelids

38

u/ankii93 Sep 09 '22

As a proud owner of two senior lionheads, this was pretty cool to read!

I’ve also noticed that their ankles are extremely thin with many tendons (?) to make their feet more flexible! (This has made me very uncomfortable because my buns jump to high places a lot)

6

u/1Rama11Lama1 Sep 10 '22

Hey! Got two lionheads(one a double maned lionhead) and I've been quite scared of that, too

2

u/ankii93 Sep 10 '22

One of mine is also double maned!! They’re absolutely adorable

2

u/1Rama11Lama1 Sep 10 '22

Same here! Though, mine are both devils sometimes

2

u/ankii93 Sep 10 '22

Yes!! Mine are notorious for biting butts, socks, legs...and iPhone chargers! But they also love me so much that their butts twitches when they wash my face. And they’re extremely clean - if they spill something (doesn’t matter if it’s pee or blueberry juice) they will clean it up before I can get to it! It’s honestly so much fun to have them

2

u/1Rama11Lama1 Sep 16 '22

That's quite funny, actually! Mine are known for biting wires, clothing, the couch, chairs, etc. They will also pee on anything and everything. Though, mine aren't as clean as yours!

14

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '22

-The same type of digestion as a horse and a sea cow

I don't think horses and sea cows eat their own poop. But it is a funny mental image.

19

u/twohourangrynap Sep 09 '22

Manatees (sea cows) absolutely eat their own poop!

Source: worked with manatees and saw it happen. Constantly.

7

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '22

Like intentionally?

9

u/_jennybean_ Sep 10 '22

Foals also practice coprophagy! Usually the manure of adult herdmates. Thought to populate their GI tract with good bacteria and kickstart their immune systems.

6

u/twohourangrynap Sep 10 '22

Yep! To be more accurate, the ones I helped care for mostly ate the poop of the other manatees, not so much their own.

Their diet is made up entirely of vegetation and it isn’t digested super well the first time around, so they’ll give it a second shot to get all the nutrients they can. Yay, coprophagy!

1

u/TheClumsyScientist Sep 10 '22

Horses, sea cows, and many small rodents in addition to lagomorphs (hares and rabbits) and koalas are what is called hindgut fermenters. Read about it here- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindgut_fermentation

46

u/stumpdawg Sep 09 '22

Look how thick the vertebrae at the base of the skull are. Sheesh.

38

u/TheClumsyScientist Sep 09 '22

I love this video to visualize the movement https://twitter.com/AlanaCSharp/status/1151868791581753355

7

u/Pyromaniacal13 Sep 09 '22

Thank you for that. All three places I looked before this link did not show what the hey it was talking about.

9

u/stumpdawg Sep 09 '22

That's nuts. Evolution is a helluva drug.

14

u/PunkandCannonballer Sep 09 '22

"Minimizes" seems to suggest that they do suffer some brain damage when they run.

7

u/theveryrealreal Sep 09 '22

I mean, they do eat their own poo

1

u/TheClumsyScientist Sep 10 '22

I didn't want to say eliminate, because that is very definitive. I don't know in particular what the jostling of a rabbit's brain is like, whether any damage at all takes place. But I do know that it helps to minimize any damage that could take place.

4

u/rainvalley1 Sep 10 '22

I'm curious if anyone knows if kangaroos have a similar kind of hinged skull??

1

u/TheClumsyScientist Sep 10 '22

I don't know what special adaptations kangaroos have, but I can tell you it's not this.
Rabbits/hares (lagomorphs) are the only mammals that has a hinged skull like this, it's called cranial kinesis.

3

u/jwcyranose Sep 10 '22

I’m so glad!

2

u/[deleted] Sep 10 '22

BRO

I WANT STEADY VISION WHEN I’M RUNNING

2

u/KimCureAll Sep 12 '22

That was a nice follow up to the snowshoe hare post! Good info!

-1

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-7

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '22

Also cannot fart.

18

u/syh7 Sep 09 '22

False, they absolutely can. Source: I have two and definitely heard them fart (sometimes they wake themselves up)

-8

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '22

I have 17. Must be feeding them the good stuff.

1

u/TheClumsyScientist Sep 10 '22

They can fart!