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.
As of yet we can't find any role they perform. If damaged or removed it can lead to chronic lameness
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.
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.
... damn. Well done op, I'm not sure how I got this old without knowing this. Hella random, sure, but it's ... a horse with a moustache. I mean, c'mon.
It's a horse's nose, with a moustache (the "weird hair"). The other pictures in the link OP provided make it easier to understand for people who aren't familliar with what horse noses look like. Example: