In the 1959 film "Ben-Hur", the lap counters in the chariot race scene were shaped like which animal?

"Ben-Hur", a 1959 American religious epic film, was directed by William Wyler, produced by Sam Zimbalist, and stars Charlton Heston as the title character. It's a remake of the 1925 silent film with a similar title; it was adapted from Lew Wallace's 1880 novel "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ". The screenplay is credited to Karl Tunberg, but includes contributions from Maxwell Anderson, S. N. Behrman, Gore Vidal, and Christopher Fry. Including Heston the cast also features Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet, Hugh Griffith, Martha Scott, Cathy O'Donnell and Sam Jaffe.

The chariot race sequence was directed by Andrew Marton and Yakima Canutt, filmmakers who often acted as second unit directors. Each man had an assistant director, who shot additional footage. Among these were Sergio Leone, a senior assistant director in the second unit. Wyler shot the "pageantry" sequence that occurs before the race, scenes of the jubilant crowd, and the victory scenes after the race concludes. Knowing that the chariot race would be mostly composed of close-up and medium shots, Wyler added the parade in formation to impress the audience.

To be historically accurate, the chariot arena was modelled on a historic circus in Jerusalem. It featured a raised 10-foot (3.0 m) high spina (the center section), metae (columnar goalposts at each end of the spina), dolphin-shaped lap counters, and columned building (carceres) in the rear where horses waited prior to the race.