How do Rams headbutt each other multiple times without getting brain damage or seriously injured?
In: Biology
It’s worth pointing out that Rams (and other creatures who engage in headbutt fights) do quite often get seriously injured from this. In fact males fighting each other for the chance to breed is just very dangerous in general throughout most species that engage in it.
The horns of the rams have a layer of keratin which helps absorb some of the shock. They also have much thicker skulls than we do
During a head injury damage to the brain occurs primarily as a result of movement of the brain within the skull and impacting the inside of the skull surface, causing damage at the site of each impact, known as a coup and contrecoup contusion. This is due to the layer of cerebrospinal fluid between the surface of the brain and the inside of the skull. Sheep, Bison and other animals that engage in similar head-butting behavior have significanlty less cerebrospinal fluid between the brain surface and the inside of the skull, resulting in less linear movement of the brain during an impact therefore less force is exerted upon the brain.
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