Blunt trauma based weapons

[Supercommunist]

Figured I would just repost IB's ostrich kick post here.

Jun 13, 2023 4:44:15 GMT 5 Infinity Blade said:

At last, after a decade of animal forums, searching for sufficient proof, I have stumbled upon a detailed account of an ostrich killing lions. Three-quarter grown lions, but still, very impressive in my book.

Tony Archer, a knowledgeable naturalist who arrived on the scene just after the occurrence, reported that an ostrich had killed two lions. A Masai man had witnessed the whole dramatic episode, and Tony had questioned him carefully. There is front of them were two dead lions, three-quarters grown, and a dead adult ostrich hen. The Masai said he was watching as ostrich pair with their newly hatched chicks feeding peacefully. Suddenly a lioness appeared with three of her own young. The cock immediately led the chicks to safety while the hen advanced on the predators. A hen with newly hatched chicks is often savage. The young lions began to close in and within a minute or two there was a brief but violent struggle. When the animals parted, two young lions had fallen, one with a broken back and the other with a blow to the head caused by the hen’s rapid, powerful downward kicks. Seconds later the lioness pounced on the hen and killed it with a few bites.

www.naturalhistorymag.com/htmlsite/master.html?https://www.naturalhistorymag.com/htmlsite/editors_pick/1986_12_pick.html

[Supercommunist]

Komodos using their tails.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixCsngFBXZI&ab_channel=ThisGalTravels

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvdKet2kEL4&ab_channel=KomodoIndonesiaChannel

[Supercommunist]

Goose beats the crap out of a heron.

x.com/TheFilipinoDino/status/1826525009831231547

[Infinity Blade]

I noticed that orcas seem to kill their similar sized or larger baleen whale prey with repeated ramming.

We describe nine incidents of predation or attempted predation of minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) by mammal-hunting “transient” killer whales (Orcinus orca) in coastal waters of British Columbia, Washington, and southeastern Alaska. Pursuits of minke whales were characterized by prolonged chases on a straight heading at velocities of 15–30 km/h. In four of the nine cases the adultsized minke whale gradually outdistanced the killer whales, which abandoned the high-speed pursuit after 0.5–1 h. In one case the minke beached itself and died. Four attacks were successful. In one instance a subadult minke was killed in open water following a chase. In two cases the fleeing minke entered a confined bay and was killed by the killer whales. One adult minke was taken after apparently attempting to seek cover beside a large sailboat. Minke whales made no attempt to physically defend themselves and were killed by repeated ramming or by asphyxiation. Although killer whales are capable of sprinting speeds greater than those of minke whales, it appears that adult minkes can maintain higher sustained speeds and evade capture if sufficient space for an extended escape trajectory is available. Successful predation of minke whales in coastal waters is rare compared to pinnipeds and small cetaceans, the main prey of transient killer whales.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2005.tb01254.x


I wonder how many rams with its head an odontocete would need to make to kill a similar sized foe. Or at least weaken it to the point where it can't fight anymore.

[Supercommunist]

Aug 23, 2024 6:41:53 GMT 5 Infinity Blade said:

I noticed that orcas seem to kill their similar sized or larger baleen whale prey with repeated ramming.

We describe nine incidents of predation or attempted predation of minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) by mammal-hunting “transient” killer whales (Orcinus orca) in coastal waters of British Columbia, Washington, and southeastern Alaska. Pursuits of minke whales were characterized by prolonged chases on a straight heading at velocities of 15–30 km/h. In four of the nine cases the adultsized minke whale gradually outdistanced the killer whales, which abandoned the high-speed pursuit after 0.5–1 h. In one case the minke beached itself and died. Four attacks were successful. In one instance a subadult minke was killed in open water following a chase. In two cases the fleeing minke entered a confined bay and was killed by the killer whales. One adult minke was taken after apparently attempting to seek cover beside a large sailboat. Minke whales made no attempt to physically defend themselves and were killed by repeated ramming or by asphyxiation. Although killer whales are capable of sprinting speeds greater than those of minke whales, it appears that adult minkes can maintain higher sustained speeds and evade capture if sufficient space for an extended escape trajectory is available. Successful predation of minke whales in coastal waters is rare compared to pinnipeds and small cetaceans, the main prey of transient killer whales.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2005.tb01254.x


I wonder how many rams with its head an odontocete would need to make to kill a similar sized foe. Or at least weaken it to the point where it can't fight anymore.

There are reports of orcas killing grey whales instantly but I feel like these are isolated events and not the norm:

Killer whales also ram prey. Such violent blows to a whale's body have been witnessed three times by observers and hunters. These reports indicated that the ramming came from below and appeared to be very effective, killing the gray whale instantly. Presumably such a powerful blow with the head of a killer whale weighing up to eight tons ramming the pectoral area, would be debilitating. Such a blow must be most effective when executed from below, as ramming a motionless quarry from below can break its ribs and puncture its vital organs, after which it soon dies. A killer whale may also broadside a gray whale, as gray whale carcasses are often found with broken ribs and punctured lungs.

I assume the victims where juveniles since most victims of orca attacks are.

The average length of 14 beached gray whales killed by killer whales was 7.9 +
1.5 m (minimum 6 m, maximum 12 m), with 10 of them (71%) under 8 m, and 2
(14%) up to 9 m in length. Because gray whales in Chukotka waters reach 8.3 m in
length in their first year and 9 m in the second (Blokhin 1999), it is clear that 85%
of the gray whales killed by killer whales were juveniles 52 yr old. However, there
was one case of an adult gray whale 12 m long found with evidence it had been
mauled by killer whales

www.researchgate.net/profile/Vladimir-Melnikov-2/publication/249473985_Killer_Whale_predation_in_coastal_waters_of_the_Chukotka_Peninsula/links/5ad563f9a6fdcc293580a41c/Killer-Whale-predation-in-coastal-waters-of-the-Chukotka-Peninsula.pdf

There is also an account of a orca killing another orca with one ram.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS5jo7d4ENE

[Infinity Blade]

Guess there's also the Mosasaurus hoffmanni specimen killed by what was likely a ram to the head from a Tylosaurus, but mosasaurs had pointy snouts that would concentrate a lot of force onto a small surface area with a blow.

[Supercommunist]

I recall IB posted a scientific source of a swan breaking a persons arm.

Here is a video of a man getting attacked by a swan. It's nowhere near as dramatic as tanks it pretty well. He did say it hurt and bruised him at 2:29.



Based on the heron vs goose video and this one, it appears that a bird's wing can be a decent weapon against similar sized animals.