People who are super into things often know all kinds of crazy and little-known facts about their favorite subjects. For this one, these animal lovers go into detail on the weirdest and most obscure things they’ve learned about their beloved creatures – and we’re all the better for it.
#15. The Greenland shark.
“The Greenland shark reaches sexual maturity at 150 years old and lives 300-500 years. Always fascinates me that theres something that can live that long.”
#14. Scorpionfly.
“There’s an insect called the scorpiofly that impresses mates by bringing them prey to eat. The bigger the meal, the better.
Only, some scorpionflies aren’t that great at catching food. So some of these males will imitate females, and wait for other males to bring them their gifts. Then they take the gift, fly away, and give it to an actual female.
https://www.nytimes.com/1979/07/31/archives/male-fly-benefits-through-female-imitation-female-invited-to-dine.html”
#13. Cheetahs.
“Cheetahs are so closely related to each other that you can freely transplant organs between all members of their species without needing immunosuppression.”
#12. Sloth hands.
“Sloth hands work opposite to ours. They have to exert energy to open their “fist” and relax to close it. This is how they can hang from trees while they’re sleeping and not fall off.”
#11. Polar bears.
“Polar bears are so efficient at storing Vitamin A, consuming polar bear liver can cause death….one polar bear liver contains enough Vitamin A to kill 52 adult humans.”
#10. The American bison.
“The American bison is the only animal in which both lungs share a common cavity. In every other animal the lungs are separated. What this meant is that when shot by an arrow, both lungs would collapse and the buffalo would suffocate quickly. (For other animals, being shot in the chest would only collapse one lung, and they would at least have a chance) That’s why such a large animal could be taken down with relatively small weapons.”
#9. Okapi.
“People thought the okapi was a hoax until it was photographed. In parts of Sumatra it is believed that the orangutan can speak and refuses to do so because they don’t want to work.”
#8. Ants.
“Ants breed and domesticate aphids around their colonies, so they can drink their milky secretions. Aphids are ant cows. So ladybugs, then, would be like ant chupacabras.
Edit: Thanks to everyone for both appreciating this ant fact, and for educating me with more ant facts.”
#7. Dragonflies.
“Dragonflies have the best successful kill rate of any creature on earth.”
#6. The color red.
“There aren’t a lot of bees in Australia, so for pollenation plants relied on birds. Birds see the colour red better, which in turn increased the flora reproduction rate – this is why a lot of plants are red in Australia.”
#5. Snails.
“A snail has over 2000 teeth.”
#4. I like fish.
“Fish have been seen using tools – deliberately hitting a clam with a rock to get it to open so they can eat it. Some fish (eels and groupers) form hunting partnerships where they communicate across the species barrier with specific signals to put their individual strengths to work (the eels chase prey out of crevices to where the groupers are waiting in open water). They also get fooled by illusions in the same way we do, meaning that their brains are processing and interpreting their environment in a similar way to us.
That’s technically three facts but I like fish.”
#3. Seals.
“Seals will get seasick if you put them on a boat.”
#2. Opossums.
“Opossums were originally found in the eastern and central parts of the United States until the 1930s when they were intentionally transported to the Western portion to be used as food during the Great Depression.”
#1. Ostrich.
“On ostrich farms, some farmers have a hard time with breeding because the ostrich is more attracted to humans than other ostriches.
That’s right, somewhere out there an ostrich wants to fuck you.
http://scicurious.scientopia.org/2012/01/13/friday-weird-science-is-that-ostrich-flirting-with-me/”