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Barbirusa Pig

 

The Barbirusa Pig has horns on the top of its nose, which left untamed eventually grown back into the skull of the animal, killing the beast. I foud out about this creature after the conception of my design in order to understand the realistic elements of this issue and to understand how it would anatomically work. I have included images of the pig below and a photograph of a skull with the horns that have grown to pierce the skull in order to understand the bone structural aspects of the design. 

In these photographs of the Barbirusa pig you can see the shaping of the horns, each individual animal has a different shaping to the horns that protrude from the nose of the creature.This is a nice element to think of during the design, potentially adjusting the horn to make it stand at a slight angle. It would provide the character with a sense of individuality and make it stand out from others. In these two photographs the variety in direction of horns can clearly be seen, the left is more symmetrical, with a slight twist and the curl, whereas the right pig has completly crossed over and is flatter to the face. I also like the contrast in colours to the face, where the horns are clearly the bone and the dark colour of their skin creates a powerful distinction between the two creating an interesting effect. I will have to work out the core of my character in order to determine if it will be possible to create a bone horn that protrudes from a rock creature. As the creature is froma fantasy world, due to the Folklore peramiter there is a certain leaway as to the creation of the character, however it has to be believable element to it. It must bean earth dwelling creature that may or may not be found in remote

North Sulawesi Babirusa, Pig (n.d) [Online Image] Available From: http://www.oregonzoo.org/gallery/tags/north-sulawesi-babirusa Date Accessed: 15/04/2015

Barbirusa Pig (2015) [Online Image] Available From: http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/2p6qgi/hippo_skulls_look_scary/ Date Accessed: 15/04/2015

Darren Naish, Impaled Babirusa Skull (2010) [Online Image] Available From: http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2010/03/08/babirusa-impales-own-head/ Date Accessed: 15/04/2015

Darren Naish, Impaled Babirusa Skull (2010) [Online Image] Available From: http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2010/03/08/babirusa-impales-own-head/ Date Accessed: 15/04/2015

locations. This creature allows for this sense of believability, as there is such an animal with the exact issue that occurs with my character. I notice that the hole in the skull is relatively smooth, which is unlike the design for my character, therefore the impact area will not be so similar, I put this down to the different materials from which they are both made of. 

Whilst researching this animal I also noted the deep wrinkling of the skin, as it is tough, I thought this might be good inspiration for the directioning and styling of the wrinkles as they are so pronouned (particularly the photograph on the right) It almost looks like a rock texture. Overall my research into the Babirusa Pig has proved extremely helpful

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