Animals with Trunks

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Animals with Trunks
Topic Started: Jun 9 2012, 09:04 PM (1,073 Views)
DawnEmperor125	Jun 9 2012, 09:04 PM Post #1
Zygote Posts: 5 Group: New Members Member #764 Joined: Jun 9, 2012 Gender: Male	Besides elephants, it seems many species developed trunks independently of each other. What purpose do trunks have exactly(as in, how did such an elaborate appendage develop)?



Arachnus	Jun 9 2012, 09:06 PM Post #2
Adult Posts: 832 Group: Members Member #701 Joined: Jan 29, 2012 Area of expertise: Xenobiology	They serve many uses, like allowing a creature (like an elephant) to reach higher places without the need of a long, vulnerable neck.



trex841	Jun 9 2012, 09:16 PM Post #3
Superhuman Posts: 3,518 Group: Members Member #533 Joined: Mar 28, 2011 Gender: Male Favorite Quote: "unnecessary is the best kind of necessary" Me	They can be used as straws, or snorkels. They can pick up a pin or tear down a tree.



T.Neo	Jun 9 2012, 09:26 PM Post #4
Translunar injection: TLI Posts: 5,180 Group: Global Mods Member #179 Joined: Jun 7, 2009	An elephant's trunk is a fairly capable manipulator, as well as facilitating drinking and washing by being able to 'ingest' and then spray out water or mud. I'm not sure what exactly the use of a shorter, tapir-style trunk is. Presumably something to do with feeding, since it's an extension of the upper lip. That said, there seem to be a number of preadaptations in mammals for trunks. A sauropsid evolving a similar organ seems quite unlikely, and then things change drastically if we're talking about invertebrates, who don't have the anatomy necessary to make up a trunk (at least not in the mammalian sense).



Nanotyranus	Jun 10 2012, 05:20 AM Post #5
He Who Fails Posts: 1,502 Group: Members Member #506 Joined: Feb 24, 2011 Gender: Male Nationality: English Favorite Quote: IT'S DJ JAZZY WORM JEFF!!! -JesseCox	Well, I think that Pinacosaurus had some sort of trunk, probably tapir-like.



JohnFaa	Jun 10 2012, 05:27 AM Post #6
Adveho in mihi Lucifer Posts: 7,699 Group: Members Member #5 Joined: May 31, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: Portugayse Favorite Quote: Blame is the playing of children and is given to many like a gift that cannot be returned. Acceptance is the tool of the mature that is rarely loaned out.	Dinosaurs can't have trunks because they lack lips and facial musculature. Most mammals that developed trunks seem to be browsers, indicating that it has a role in accessing inaccessible vegetation. Elephants, however, evolved from aquatic ancestors, meaning the trunk likely evolved as a snorkel. Indeed, modern sirenians have a small trunk as well.



Russwallac	Jun 10 2012, 07:56 AM Post #7
"Ta-da!" Posts: 2,896 Group: Members Member #574 Joined: May 27, 2011 Gender: Male Area of expertise: Xenobiology Nationality: Animalia, Chordata, Mammalia, Primates, Hominidae, Homo sapiens sapiens Favorite Quote: One cannot define what life IS, but we sure as heck can define what it ISN'T.	Technically, the sirenian "trunk" is actually an extension of the upper lip used to grasp food. Many animals, such as giraffes and horse, have a similar structure.



JohnFaa	Jun 10 2012, 10:31 AM Post #8
Adveho in mihi Lucifer Posts: 7,699 Group: Members Member #5 Joined: May 31, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: Portugayse Favorite Quote: Blame is the playing of children and is given to many like a gift that cannot be returned. Acceptance is the tool of the mature that is rarely loaned out.	Actually, it's the entire upper lip. It is technically a trunk, as the nostrils are in the middle of this muscular structure



Nanotyranus	Jun 10 2012, 11:00 AM Post #9
He Who Fails Posts: 1,502 Group: Members Member #506 Joined: Feb 24, 2011 Gender: Male Nationality: English Favorite Quote: IT'S DJ JAZZY WORM JEFF!!! -JesseCox	Well, it had some sort of nasal sack, then. It would probably look like a trunk to many.



lamna	Jun 10 2012, 05:49 PM Post #10
In war, victory. In peace, vigilance. In death, sacrifice. Posts: 13,479 Group: Global Mods Member #26 Joined: Jul 1, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: British	Well tapirs are really very similar to primitive elephants, and while they do swim and use their trunk to breath, it's primarily for grasping food and pulling it into their mouth. I imagine that's why early elephants evolved them too. Many plant eating mammals use their lips to grasp and pull in food, many others use their tongues. Clearly something much make that more useful than just biting directly, probably dexterity.



Dragonborn	Jun 10 2012, 06:06 PM Post #11
Devout Christian, and not afraid to show it! (But with the ban on religious topic, that doesn;t happen) Posts: 807 Group: Members Member #592 Joined: Jul 7, 2011 Gender: Male Area of expertise: Xenobiology Nationality: Canadian Favorite Quote: "In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is," Yogi Berra	Is there any link between where an animal lives and whether or not it will develop a trunk? Because they seem more common where trees are in abundance, or rarer but encountered occasionally.



lamna	Jun 12 2012, 10:21 AM Post #12
In war, victory. In peace, vigilance. In death, sacrifice. Posts: 13,479 Group: Global Mods Member #26 Joined: Jul 1, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: British	It's to do with diet. Broad lips work best for grazing, narrower ones work better fro browsing.



Russwallac	Jun 12 2012, 10:36 AM Post #13
"Ta-da!" Posts: 2,896 Group: Members Member #574 Joined: May 27, 2011 Gender: Male Area of expertise: Xenobiology Nationality: Animalia, Chordata, Mammalia, Primates, Hominidae, Homo sapiens sapiens Favorite Quote: One cannot define what life IS, but we sure as heck can define what it ISN'T.	Trunks have arisen many times in unrelated mammals; Macrauchenia, for example. It definitely seems to be a common feature amongst browsers.



colddigger	Jun 12 2012, 06:52 PM Post #14
Joke's over! Love, Parasky Posts: 6,108 Group: Members Member #143 Joined: Feb 28, 2009 Gender: Male Nationality: Canadian. Just like Phasey! Favorite Quote: "If it weren't for the gutter my mind would be homeless!" - BaliTiger23	Using the lips to grab food and force it into the mouth is better than simply biting because that allows you to move food more carefully and in smaller portions (while ultimately more food reaches the mouth in one mouthful) than biting could allow. To grab more food while there is food in your mouth with a bite means food might fall out, using your trunk or lips means that you can quietly move more in without that risk. Of course there are other methods which would allow biting to work just fine.



Rhob	Jun 13 2012, 01:42 PM Post #15
Adolescent Posts: 375 Group: Members Member #260 Joined: Jan 20, 2010 Gender: Male Area of expertise: Xenobiology Nationality: Floridian Favorite Quote: "We are a way for the Cosmos to know itself." - Carl Sagan	JohnFaa Dinosaurs can't have trunks because they lack lips and facial musculature. At some point, the ancestor of all mammals lacked lips and fascial musculature, so your point does not stand whatsoever.



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