Kurtback: Difference between revisions
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Perhaps the most unusual thing about the adult kurtback is its tail spike, which now appears more like a strange fin than it does a tiny spike. This structure is for sexual display, helping kurtbacks identify each other quickly and making them more attractive to mates. Although kurtbacks are completely blind, they are able to "see" this tail spike especially well via sonar. It is much larger, flatter, and denser than in other saucebacks, perfect for reflecting sound. Larger tail spikes are also favored by both sexes as a display of fitness: the logic goes that individuals able to maintain a larger tail spike must be better at hunting and surviving. This is because the structure essentially serves as a handicap. It radiates a lot of heat due to its flat shape, making it harder to thermoregulate. It is also somewhat cumbersome and makes the kurtback more "visible" to its prey, making it trickier to hunt. |
Perhaps the most unusual thing about the adult kurtback is its tail spike, which now appears more like a strange fin than it does a tiny spike. This structure is for sexual display, helping kurtbacks identify each other quickly and making them more attractive to mates. Although kurtbacks are completely blind, they are able to "see" this tail spike especially well via sonar. It is much larger, flatter, and denser than in other saucebacks, perfect for reflecting sound. Larger tail spikes are also favored by both sexes as a display of fitness: the logic goes that individuals able to maintain a larger tail spike must be better at hunting and surviving. This is because the structure essentially serves as a handicap. It radiates a lot of heat due to its flat shape, making it harder to thermoregulate. It is also somewhat cumbersome and makes the kurtback more "visible" to its prey, making it trickier to hunt. |
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Outside of courtship, kurtbacks are largely solitary, viewing other kurtbacks of the same sex or of much smaller size as competition. Rival kurtbacks generally don't fight each other, but they do use the size of their tail spike to try and assert dominance. While this may seem like a purely selfish trait, it actually benefits newly |
Outside of courtship, kurtbacks are largely solitary, viewing other kurtbacks of the same sex or of much smaller size as competition. Rival kurtbacks generally don't fight each other, but they do use the size of their tail spike to try and assert dominance. While this may seem like a purely selfish trait, it actually benefits newly metamorphosed kurtbacks, which could otherwise be seen as food by fully grown individuals. Kurtbacks are not particularly smart for a sauceback, typically ignoring or avoiding new stimuli that they don't recognize as food, foe, or partner. |
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==Gallery== |
==Gallery== |
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