(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

BY STEVEN SPARKMAN

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Which animal is nature’s best headbutter? Scientists from the University of Calgary wanted to know.

They picked out several species known to use their heads as weapons, including giraffes, muskoxen, and llamas. They took ct scans of skulls from each species, and ran computer simulations to see which animal could take a blow to the noggin the best. (Video source: ARKive)

But it turns out the champion headbutter isn’t a living animal, but a long-extinct dinosaur -- the stegoceras.

Discovery News explains what put the dome-topped dinosaur at the top of the heap. Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

“All of these animals possess head protection that the researchers compare to a built-in motorcycle helmet. The Stegoceras kicked this usual design up a notch by having an extra layer of dense bone in the middle.”

Thanks to its impressive headgear, the skull of the stegoceras held up better in the simulations than any modern animal, even much larger ones. (Video source: EurekAlert)

While no one is sure what they did with their crash helmets, there are some educated guesses. Wired explains.

“Despite its incredible head-butting ability, it was no bigger than a German Shepard dog.
It’s thought that the male dinosaurs butted heads to show off in front of the ladies. Ladies love a good head-butter.”

Transcript by Newsy.