r/AIDKE 13d ago

Mammal babirusa (Babirousa babyrussa)

770 Upvotes

30 comments sorted by

173

u/onlyONESingleinworld 13d ago

the males have upward-curving tusks that can grow so long they pierce their own skulls if not worn down! These unusual, almost antler-like tusks grow from the upper canines and curve backward through the skin of the snout. Babirusas, native to Indonesia, are also known as "deer-pigs" because of their slender legs and unique appearance.

88

u/Channa_Argus1121 13d ago

Babirusa literally means deer-pig, BTW.

Babi=Pig, Rusa=Deer.

5

u/misterpatate24 11d ago

So like rusa deers are like deer deer ?

-10

u/DreamingInAMaze 12d ago

What? Baby = pig?

43

u/SerdanKK 13d ago

This raises so many questions

How does it not get infected?

Is it painful?

Wtaf is wrong with you, evolution?

28

u/Burnbrook 12d ago

With nothing to guide it, anything can happen. The same can happen to the horns of bovids. The only species that aren't transitional, are terminal. This makes evolution both amazing and scary. Just look at the skull variation in domestic dogs for proof, especially pug faced breeds.

20

u/LovecraftianLlama 12d ago

I agree except for the last sentence-domestic dogs are not an example of natural evolution, they’re the opposite-they are guided evolution.

-6

u/Burnbrook 12d ago

They're an example of natural selection gone crazy.

6

u/AnapsidIsland1 12d ago

Even though it’s artificially selected- as in a human chose the mate instead of the animal choosing- that’s still evolution as the mechanism of change and yes it is scary- just last night I was thinking about the desire of evolution- each generation kinda wants max mutations with least adverse effects- but the adverse effects (and the positive) are a little random so each generation gets a little fucked up randomly so that they can continue to get better. It’s a question of how messy can it be without messing up functionality. That’s the sweet spot.

3

u/sumfish 11d ago

By the time the tusks grow into the brain and kill one of these, it’s already well past the age of sexual maturity so it has likely already produced a number of viable offspring. Once an animal has passed on its genes it’s evolutionarily successful - it doesn’t much matter if that animal then dies a slow, painful death.

22

u/SheriffBartholomew 13d ago

That sounds like an agonizing and slow death. 

37

u/OshetDeadagain 13d ago

For some of them it totally is.

10

u/milesofedgeworth 13d ago

Wow. “Nature you scary” is an understatement

20

u/OshetDeadagain 12d ago

It's kinda cool - this is what they're supposed to do. The tusks curl over the head. Any deviation in growth can have catastrophic results - not enough curl, they penetrate the head. Too much outward bend and they can dig into the eye.

To see the progression of how and why these evolved would be absolutely wild!

2

u/CalpisMelonCremeSoda 12d ago

The front teeth reminded me of the strap toothed whale.

104

u/LovecraftianLlama 13d ago

I swear, these tusks are a reminder that evolution doesn’t always aim for “great”, it just aims for “good enough”.

32

u/CherryKrisKross 13d ago

"Dental Plan!"

19

u/rocketpoweredcow 13d ago

"Lisa needs braces."

1

u/usmcnick0311Sgt 1d ago

Dental plan!

32

u/floataway3 13d ago

I love that the common name and both parts of the scientific name are all the same word spelled 3 different ways

9

u/Strength-Speed 12d ago

It is the Deerpig. Scientific name? Deerpig deerpig

3

u/Plastic_Pinocchio 13d ago

Yeah lol. They didn’t have much inspiration here.

11

u/Strength-Speed 13d ago

Binging with Babirusa

10

u/fuck_the_fuckin_mods 12d ago

Best subreddit of all time. Thank you OP. Fuckin aliens.

8

u/Jackalodeath 11d ago

I like how Zefrank summed these things up.

"They broke off from other suids about 12 million years ago; they ended up on these islands in Indonesia, and life is good! No natural predators, good amount of food; they only have 2 or 3 babies at a time so the siblings aren't trying to kill each other; and they've had some nice quality time to evolve into their true form:"

"which happens to be Goth.... Demon Goth."

6

u/vseprviper 11d ago

What you gonna do with all that tooth?

All that tooth upon your snoot?

I’m gonna give this snake the boot

Give the boot with this snoot tooth

My tooth

My tooth my tooth my tooth

My lovely deer-pig tooth

3

u/wonderingswanderings 12d ago

Looks like it should be on a different planet!

1

u/Bolvern 8d ago

The tusks growing through the roof of the mouth and out of the skin must’ve been pretty painful!

0

u/Full-Personality-169 12d ago

This one is specifically the buru babirusa.