Rusps resemble enormous centipedes, but definitely are not. One major difference is that they are not Earth arthropods. In fact, they have an endoskeleton, and what resembles an exoskeleton is just their dermal armour. They appear to have two heads, one in front and one at the hind of the animal, although this is not quite true. The front head has eye (quite a few, in fact) a mouth with an extensible snout, and a whip. The whip is carried horizontally and is the rusp's main defensive weapon. It can be swung at high speed against predators, who stand a good chance of severe injury as the whip is equipped with several bony weights at its end. The aft 'head' is fairly similar, except that there is no mouth there. There is a brain of sorts, apparently communicating with and under control by the front brain. |
This is a detail of the brontorusp's head as a digital painting. The dermal armour as well as the front whip are particularly well visible here. |
And here is the head once again, but this time as a 3D sculpt. Note the extensible rostrum and the multiple eyes. |
Blog posts about rusps |