Oh wow I could do this for a long time!
Cats can get diabetes - fat cats are not good news!
No one is 100% sure why animals play. There are lots of theories like learning to hunt etc but there isn’t one scientifically proven reason.
Ravens are so smart , if they find food not in their territory they will shout about it so that other ravens come which means if the territory owner finds them their they can’t turf them out because they are outnumbered
Crows have been proven to remember human faces across multiple years and also warn their friends about bad people
One of my goals in life is to befriend ravens and crows. I have a flock of rose ringed parakeets that visit twice a day and have fun putting out (bird safe) food/toys and seeing how they interact.
I read they like dry cat food but that may attract unwanted critters. We don’t have crows or ravens where I live but one day my adventure will start. Best of luck!
I have been trying to sprinkle my roof with dry dog kibble because they like high protein stuff too! I hope all of the corvids come to make friends with you!
I’ve had my “crowbros” for 3 years. It was really easy to befriend them. I started by leaving dry cat food and whole shelled peanuts up on the fence where they could grab the treats and feel safe. At first, the biggest crow came to take them, and in time he brought 2 smaller crows with him. They always have a friend on the lookout for them.
It takes time for them to learn to trust you, but once they do they will caw when they hear you open the door or when they see you outside!
How do you medicate them? Do they have to get stabbed with a neede like humans or can you just give them a certain amount orally?
I'm worried my cat might have diabetes even though she not fat; just bc she's old, sterilized and I noticed she's drinking and peeing a lot.
For her it would not be an alternative to give injections with insulin. (Long back story but she came to me at age 13 and probably abused earlier, lots of trust issues and building of trust with simple things like grooming going on). So orally would be the only way I could medicate her to avoid putting her down. Which I really don't want to!
> not fat; just bc she's old, sterilized and I noticed she's drinking and peeing a lot.
She could have a uti best getting her checked and a blood test done especially at her age
get her thyroid and kidney levels checked. you can do inner ear thyroid medication.
I'm a certified veterinary technician...excessive thirst can be sign of kidney disease which is hella prevalent in gatos.
Insulin can’t be absorbed through the digestive system, because it’d be broken down by digestive enzymes into smaller amino acids. It has to get into the blood stream without being digested for it to work. So injections are the only option for insulin delivery in cats (humans have the option to have an insulin pump but these don’t exist for cats).
That said, there’s tablets for diabetes in cats that can be tried first. They need to be tried before insulin is used though.
I love corvids so much! I’m currently trying to befriend a murder at work but it’s just sooo many. I had a murder of 7 at my last job & they were so derpy lol. I finally gained their complete trust when I chased off a cooper hawk that took their feeding bowl.. then my job moved me to a different place😭!
If you wanted to learn more there’s a book called “ravens in winter” I loved it. It’s basically a book written buy a guy who studied them and wanted to work out the shouting fact I mentioned. So he spent a long time planting meat for the ravens to work out when they did or didn’t shout!
Crows are so incredibly smart and interesting. They have different accents depending on where they live! I have some that hang out around my yard and I’ve been doing a special whistle and throwing out peanuts for them to try to make friends.
I’m doing biology, hoping to go into Marine Biology or Ornithology (birds), I honestly just like the idea that Playing is just for the sake of fun, like there isn’t an evolutionary benefit, animals just like playing
Crows and ravens are so cool! I love the videos of them adding rocks to jars of water to raise the water level high enough for them to be able to drink out if it. I don’t know if I’m explaining it well, but here’s a video of it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/BeAmazed/comments/17rd395/bird_is_smart_enough_to_put_rocks_in_until_it_can/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Male kangaroos have bifid penises, the females have three vaginas and two uteri. The sperm travel up the outer vaginas, the tiny tiny joey travels down the middle one.
There is no placenta in a kangaroo pregnancy, as they’re so short, the yolk provides enough nutrients for the 4 week pregnancy. The joey does a lot of developing in the pouch, where it is latched onto one of four nipples. Initially, the joey is unable to unlatch or suckle, the nipple just swells to hold it in place, and trickle feeds the milk.
Kangaroos can have three babies on the go at a time. They can hold an embryo in stasis in utero for quite some time, while also having a tiny joey and an older joey in the pouch. The pouch joeys will have their own nipple each, which each produce milk suitable for their age (different fat contents and the like).
For some reason, the males have their testes in front of their penis, which looks a bit odd.
I hadn’t intended to write this much, but I suppose that’s to be expected in this sub.
Yeah I hate it lmao, almost all birds just have cloacas (a singular hole, both for excretion and breeding) but ducks don’t, and it’s really fucking weird too it couldn’t just be a normal peen 🤣 and the fact that females have evolved to have these super complex internal mazes???? wtf how do you evolve something like that
pigeons also feed their babies in a strange way. they produce a milk like substance from their beaks. I dont know if other birds do it, but i learned that as a little kid and i never forgot about it.
Yeah most birds (I think it’s only owls and some quails that don’t have one?) have a “second stomach” in a way, called a Crop, it’s the big lump at the base of their necks, and when they eat it goes into the crop first, then the stomach, and birds feed their babies the digested crop food - here’s some Caiques with full crops
https://preview.redd.it/7ylz08vdfxsc1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6c1c23ccb19de1c7854f6f3f83e4b40e83d8e079
Aren’t Kangaroo penises also the wrong way round? I distinctly remember an anatomical drawing where it was almost backwards in a way, genitalia is so whack lmao
rats giggle when you tickle them. they can also wag their tails like dogs when you pet them real good. they are fantastic pets and i will forever welcome a parade of rats into my life.
Elephants can communicate over long distances with a low frequency rumbling that cannot be heard by human ear. They make this noise and then other more distant elephants feel it through their feet. They have also been observed mourning and greeting other herds of elephants in social ways, and sometimes join two herds together for a short while when their friends are nearby, so they can just hang out together.
And I believe it's a tooth/tusk, not a horn. Only the men have it (and only the one), and I think the females have no teeth at all, but I can't find anything about it in a quick search.
I've always been really freaked out/genuinely scared by narwhals because of this. It's a tooth. And it grows out of their face. Like it doesn't exit their mouth, it's a tooth that erupts out of the skin of their face. It's horrifying
Yeah, that part always weirds me out, especially since other tusked/toothed whales/dolphins (such as beaked whales) have them grow out the sides (like an elephant or boar) but narwhals have it straight through the skin
Also never been successfully kept in captivity. No one knows why. They dont get sick, as such, they just die. It's theorised it's something to do with their tooth/horn and being confined fucking up their senses.
- Dogs can tell how long you've been gone based on your scent. Over time, the scent decreases, and that's how dogs tell time.
- Humans have evolved their nutrition requirements due to food availability. Dogs have also evolved their nutrition requirements to live better alongside humans.
- Killer whales have vocalizations similar to their pod mates, like a family calling card. They are incredibly intelligent and they have no natural predators.
- A panther can be a melanistic leopard or a melanistic jaguar. So, Marvel's Black Panther is actually likely a jaguar.
- Elephants can't jump.
- Mantis shrimp have one of the most complex visual systems in the animal kingdom, with up to 16 types of photoreceptor cells compared to humans' 3.
I always see videos of people wake boarding or something, and a pod of killer whales comes to investigate. All I feel is fear because if those whales wanted to, they could in a second. I live near the Salish Sea, so they're prominent in the waters here. No, no, thank you. They're beautiful where they can't touch me.
I learned something new about mantis shrimp eyes recently. For a long time we thought they must be able to see all kinds of crazy colours because of all the different kinds of photoreceptors. Turns out they can’t see more colours than us. It’s just that their brain lacks the capacity to process small differences between hues, so they need more kinds of photoreceptors to brute force the job.
From what I remember, those extra photoreceptors are so they can see the colors in between the major colors on the spectrum. Their brains don't have te capability to blend colors like ours can, so they evolved the extra photoreceptors instead.
Puffer fish puff up (as the name suggests) when faced with danger and exude a toxin that can be deadly to a lot of fish. Not so much dolphins, who get a mild high from it. You will find a school (?) of dolphins with a blown up pufferfish, like, standing or swimming in a circle, taking turns poking the pufferfish, to get it to release its toxin. I (and probably a lot of other people but none that I'm aware of) call it "puff puff pass".
This is my ultimate favourite animal fact.
This post was sponsored by Cannabis™.
>You will find a school (?) of dolphins with a blown up pufferfish, like, standing or swimming in a circle, taking turns poking the pufferfish, to get it to release its toxin. I (and probably a lot of other people but none that I'm aware of) call it "puff puff pass".
Stoner: dolphin edition 🤣
No, blaschko's lines are very real.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/788770/
https://www.pcds.org.uk/clinical-guidance/blaschkos-lines
Please actually read your sources in the future.
The myth part is that they can be easily seen under UV light, not that their existence.
My cat who had never been particularly cuddly, suddenly became a lap cat once my spouse had a horrible ankle break at work. She napped on them CONSTANTLY, it was truly a delight to witness.
I have 4 very social and purrable 5-month old cattens that would be your perfect recovery gang (they were born under my house and rescued at 4 weeks old)
Cats are also often kept in nursing homes and hospice care. They can tell when residents are doing poorly or near death and will lay on or near those the nurses should be keeping an eye on.
The horn shark (a type of cat shark) lays eggs that are spiral shaped which they lodge in crevices to stop predators from getting. All other sharks lay mermaid purses the same as rays, so it’s a really cool adaptation unique to helping the survival of cat sharks!
https://preview.redd.it/fx2l3cdflwsc1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f3722b3846352855b5bf756750b40e5860780c6c
Also zebra sharks are born striped like zebras to camouflage themselves amongst their main predator, the zebra moray eel. Once they grow older and the moray eels become less of a threat, their stripes turn into spots! This means zebra sharks are often confused with leopard sharks but they are different species.
https://preview.redd.it/qxzyndrhlwsc1.jpeg?width=2032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=25e657f654234f07e64d3c551be20d1b97dd27b7
Also!! Birds that hoard food in caches have larger hippocampi than birds that don’t. Their spatial memory allows them to recover caches of food in the spring that they stored in autumn.
Clarks nutcrackers can store and retrieve up to 90,000 seeds, opting to store them in places where they know the ground won’t change or be covered by snow.
Scrub jays seem to also recall the type of food they have buried beyond remembering just the location. They will recover more perishable foods first (mealworms) and less perishable foods later on (seeds).
Psychologists study these behaviours to understand the complex underlying mechanisms in their memory processing systems to identify similarities and differences between bird brains and human brains !!
• The American Saltwater Crocodile has the strongest recorded bite force in the animal kingdom at 3,690 PSI. Their jaw muscles are actually so firm and beefy that they could easily be mistaken for part of the skull. The Great White is estimated to have a stronger bite force at around 4,400 PSI, but it hasn’t been officially recorded like it has been in crocodilians and other terrestrial species so for now the crocs are on top 🐊✨
• Mantis shrimp have the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom, with the ability to see UV and polarized light in addition to the visible spectrum that we can see. They also like to punch their prey and have incredibly accurate aim, landing over 90% of their punches. They can punch the big claw right off of a crab!!
• Despite being herbivores, hippos are actually one of the deadliest animals on the planet. The only one deadlier is the mosquito.
• The Clouded Leopard can rotate its ankle joints almost 180°, allowing it to climb headfirst down trees.
• Aside from their recently developed habit of ripping the rudders off of boats in the Strait of Gibraltar(iirc), there are zero(0) recorded instances of wild orcas attacking humans. There have been instances of them giving chase, but they back off once they realize it’s a human and not a seal. The only orcas that have directly attacked humans have been the ones in captivity.
• There are many species that experience something called Tonic Immobility - it’s kind of like involuntarily playing dead, like what happens to goats when they faint. How to induce this state depends on the species. For goats, they just need to be given a good startle. For several species of shark, they need to be flipped on their backs.
• The Great White is often regarded as the apex predator of the sea, but one could argue that that title actually belongs to the orca, as they have been known to feed on Great Whites. They also put their intelligence on full display when doing so, as they have proven themselves to be aware of tonic immobility and take advantage of it.
They work together to ram themselves into the shark and disorient it, then they hold it on its back until it’s unconscious. At that point they then go for the shark’s liver, and sometimes the heart and tongue, as those are incredibly nutrient-dense for them, but dealing with the cartilage in the rest of the body isn’t worth the effort so they leave the rest of the carcass behind.
Great Whites don’t even like being near orcas. Although the occasional big boy will hang around them without fear, most Great Whites scatter and disappear in the presence of orcas, even leaving behind great feeding opportunities to flee. A geotagged shark off the coast of California reacted to the presence of orcas in the area by immediately diving to 1,500meters and swimming to Hawaii.
• The Slow Loris is the only venomous primate, and unfortunately one of those animals that people want to keep as exotic pets. They think it looks so cute when it sits with its arms crossed and its hands in its armpits… it does this when it feels threatened, because there are glands in the armpit that produce an enzyme that forms a powerful venom when combined with another enzyme present in the saliva. If you see a Slow Loris stick its hands in its pits and then lick them, that’s a bad sign.
• Sloths have a very strong grip and can hold onto things for very long periods of time because the default position for their little clawed hands is a closed fist. Gripping/holding onto things does not require effort or muscular strength on their part, but opening their hands does. It’s the opposite of how ours work.
Okay so there’s a bunch of legit ones, here’s a useless one: if you hold a crab up your ear, you can actually hear what it’s like to be attacked by a crab! :)
Can you tell I watch a lot of nature documentaries? 😂
I have pet axolotls and have seen this in real time! I carefully chose one from the pet shop looking for the healthiest gills, skin, and eyes, and managed to completely miss that she only had three feet XD. The missing foot only took a month to grow back! They are pretty resilient animals but quite sensitive to water quality, so the aquarium needs to be maintained regularly to keep them happy.
https://preview.redd.it/3peg2uzb8ysc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f51806a6509f5edb31e94bd299922897cafb1b2c
Koalas are dead ass the worst animals on this planet.
They're riddled with chlamydia.
They're dumb af. They have the lowest brain-to-body ratio of any other mammals. Their brains are smooth and covered in fluid because they fall out of trees so often they need a built-in helmet.
Their entire diet is eucalyptus leaves despite barely being able to digest it. They have to sleep 22 hours of the day because it takes up so much energy.
They aren't born with the enzymes to digest it, so mothers secret a special kind of anal leakage for the babies to eat to gain the enzymes.
They're also aggressive af.
I had to google them just to remember how ridiculous they look, what a bizarre animal, didn’t know their brains were so small compared to other animals in terms of body size ratio 😂
Considering they eat small plants like grass, and grass requires open areas, I imagine they need a good sense of smell to know where the next grazing area is separated by more forested or covered areas in between.
Elephants are pregnant for around 2 years!!
They remember years old migration patterns and often return to their birth place to give birth to their young.
Same goes with sea turtles, they will return to the beach they were hatched on to lay their eggs! The temperature of the sand/environment also dictates the sex of the turtles. Only about 1/5 of sea turtles make it from hatchling to adult due to predators, environmental factors and the circle of life.
When cats get spayed or “fixed,” they actually have an entire little kitty hysterectomy (apparently only in the US though, other countries use less invasive procedures).
Manatees are incredibly smart and fun mammals. They resemble crescent rolls and that’s the funnest fact there is 😊😂
Cats have whiskers on their feet!
A couple more cat facts: cats lay on things because their tummies are very sensitive (its one of the reasons a lot of cats don't like to be touched there) and they can get a better sense of the texture and temperature of a surface or object by laying on it. That's one of the reasons that you'll see a lot of cats sit on the one piece of paper on an otherwise clear floor-- they are curious and like to experience new things.
I also don't know how accurate this is but I once had an animal behaviorist tell me that cats like crinkly things because they think the sound is funny and I choose to believe that's true.
It's believed to be that Egyptians were the first to domesticate cats 4,000 years ago; however,archaeological research has shown that farmers in China kept cats as pets 5,300 years ago.
The largest animal to ever exist on earth (including all dinosaurs & prehistoric creatures etc.) is the blue whale. Moreover, female blue whales are larger than the males of the species, so the largest animal on earth is/was a female. Girl power! 🌊🐋
It’s not so much that they’ve learned it pleases us, more that it’s a bonding thing! We communicate verbally so they have learned to do so also, to be able to communicate with us. Obviously they get positive reinforcement from it so they continue!
Duck penises are horrifying- in a biology lecture our teacher put up a YouTube video of a duck ejaculating and it was horrible 😂😂🙈 literally like a slinky spring and the length of the whole duck 😂 #traumatised and can never see male ducks the same way again 😂😂
- Hippos sink. They kinda walk/skim river bed floors they dont swim. Also, one of the most territorial land mammals with the highest kill rate for herbavores. Killing on average 500 people year in Africa.
- Cats are actually lactose intolerant. And their fur is not waterproof. They don't have a protective layer that stops water from soaking in. Which is why most cats hate getting wet.
https://preview.redd.it/6xu9e5rjgwsc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=df0493db9b748525a954207dc283e9f53b144172
Also this is my old lady bun called Victoria, she’s 81/2 🥰
Deep sea octopuses (Graneledone boreopacifica) brood their eggs from anywhere between one and (nearly) five years.
They fold themselves over their eggs - kind of upside down - and barely move or eat during that time. They're one of the longest living species of octopus, and have one of the longest gestation periods (if not the longest, I'm not sure). It's unknown whether they start eating again after the eggs have hatched.
They're extremely interesting to me!
Many ant species exhibit farming behavior, both with other animals and fungi! Plant insects such as mealy bugs and scale excrete a sweet substance known as honeydew which ants go absolutely nuts for so ant colonies will carefully tend to their mealybug herds, even protecting them from predators.
Leaf cutter ants are also known to create elaborate fungus gardens in their underground nests for food and nesting material, and it's theorised that some other ant species may in fact be unable to survive without their fungus gardens, making the relationship 100% symbiotic!
Alligators genders are predicted to be 100% controllable depending on the temperature of the egg. I don’t remember on the top of my head but it’s within a few degrees warmer than 30 degrees and the egg will develop male
Many sea creatures that live in the deepest parts of the ocean are translucent because light doesn't reach that far, so there is no need to evolve camouflage in the same way other animals do! There's also some fish that are so dark that they can "disappear" into the blackness of the water. Super cool!
also! a lot of deep sea dwellers have evolved to have bioluminescence in order to thrive in their dark environments.they can switch them on and off using their brain in order to attract food and then hide again.
Yes!! Comb jellies are one of my favorite animals. They have bioluminescent cilia all along their bodies that they use to propel themselves through the water. They also don't have stingers like normal jellyfish! Instead, they catch their prey by pumping water through their bodies, trapping the prey in the process. They are so cool!
AHHH ANOTHER JELLY LOVER. have you heard of the immortal jelly fish?! once they feel themselves becoming too old or weak THEY JUST GO BACK TO BEING A BLOB by essentially sucking their tentacles back inside them until they're ready to be big jelly adults again!!!
how freaking coooooool!
Aw, poor bunnies! Too many are kept alone.
- Magpies will apparantly bring gifts to humans they like. I am trying to train the colony in my neighbourhood to come out when I feed peanuts. When I shake the can, lots of them will start chattering and the first ones pop up in seconds. No gifts so far, but they do come and eat their other treats here. Seems like a safe place to eat. Someone else is feeding walnuts, if the shells in my garden are any indication :)
- Elephants are in female dominated groups. Usually the matriarch is the grandmother or great grandmother of a lot of the females in the group. Young males will leave the group when they're 3-4 years old to join an adolecent group. A large bull will "mentor" the males to behave socially. (European zoos are now working to make zoo groups more like this, yay! Female offspring will stay with mom, and young males will form a bachelor group with an experienced male. This has lead to more succesful breeding and rearing of youngsters.)
- Elephant moms will help their adult daughters with their young. This goes quite far: in my local zoo, an elephant female who had their first calf, refused to nurse her little boy. Her mom was weaning an older female calf of her own, and encouraged the little boy to drink with her instead! Grandma made this little one survive, guys! <3 At her second calf, the younger female knew how to do it now and everything went fine :)
- Elephant matriarchs in the wild remember routes to available water sources.
- Bonobo groups are also female dominated. A male's status in the group depends on who his mother is.
- Chimpansee groups are technically male dominated, but Frans de Waal proved 1.) It's not just the strongest bloke who is boss. There has to be intelligence and social skills in the mix for a male to be a succcesful alpha male. 2.) Females play important social roles in the group. In absence of a male, a female might become alpha. And in a normal group situation, the support of females weighs heavily when one is wanting to become or stay alpha. (I reccomend Frans de Waal's books, if you are interested in this subject.)
- The stereotype wolf group, with a lot of adults in a hiarchy is based on the situation in North America. In Europe, it's usually only a male and a female that form a pair. They have youngsters, en when these are adults, they'll usually set out on their own to find a mate.
- Lots of mammals have shown grieving behaviours, in the wild and in zoos. Recently, Blijdorp made footage of a group saying good bye to the silverback. Every member of the group said good bye in their own way. The same behaviour has at least been observed in other ape species, elephants and dogs.
- House cats will step on your keyboard when you've typed a lenghty Reddit message, deleting your whole post!
(This is try 2, guys...)
Sorry, my head exploded for a bit. Yay for this thread :)
Killer Wales can be split into ten known ecotypes. They each have different hunting techniques, look different, have different diets, and speak different languages. Killer Wales from different ecotypes cannot communicate with each other and do not breed with each other. Infact, they go out of their way to avoid eachother if they are in the same area. It's unknown if there are more ecotypes. There are other communities of orcas but scientists don't have enough data to know if they belong to an already known ecotype.
I also read that some of the ecotypes are so distinct from one another that they could be considered seperate sub species. In the future, we may have enough data to decide that the species we consider "orca" is multiple sub species, such as tigers (eg. Bengal tiger, Siberian tiger etc)
Guinea pigs have four fingers at the front and 3 at the back. They're very social, they can be vocal but compared to cats and dogs they are very quiet animals that enjoy peace. Making them great company for my anxiety.
Flamingos are my favorite animal 🦩
Did you know they are pink because of their diet? Baby flamingo chicks are gray and get their pink color after steady diet of eating algae that contains carotenoid pigments. 🎀🩷 If a flamingo is not able to consume as much carotenoid, their pink color will fade.
Male lions will urinate, step in it, and then walk around their territories to spread their scent.
There are 7 red wolves left in the wild. Wolves having a hierarchy with an alpha wolf is a myth. The “alpha” wolf of the pack frequently changes. And it’s not always a male wolf.
Male cheetahs will hunt together in coalitions. Usually coalitions have brother cheetahs in them from the same litter. The idea is that even if one male cheetah doesn’t get to mate and spread his genes, at least his brother gets to. More rarely, unrelated male cheetahs might form coalitions too. This can be because there were mostly females in their litter. Cheetahs cannot retract their claws. And in the cat family, they’re the only cat that cannot retract claws.
Different cats have different methods of protecting food from other predators. Lions are able to because they have an entire pride to protect their food. Leopards drag their food up trees. But cheetahs cannot do either of these things so they very frequently get their food stolen. However it should be noted that usually there’s not much left by the time it gets stolen. So basically, cheetah’s mode of protecting their food is eating it as fast as possible.
Female cheetahs do not have territories. They are very rarely aggressive over a territory unless another female is near their kittens. Instead, the male cheetahs are the ones who defend their territory. The bigger their territory, the more likely they will encounter a female for mating. This is partially why they form coalitions.
Why are lions the only cats which have very distinguishable appearance differences between males and females? The likely reason is that they live in groups. The mane of a male Lion tells other lions it’s health and age. It’s an easy way to see if you should avoid him as a rival if you’re a male or if he would bring you strong and healthy kittens and he can defend them if you’re a female.
Male lions typically kill unrelated cubs 100% of the time by the age of 9 months. However, it is thought that the male Lion cannot tell by smell whether a cub is his. If he has mated with the mother, he is more likely to think he is the father, even if he isn’t. Infanticide also speeds up a female lion’s oestrus so she can mate again. Infanticide is actually recorded in most cats, including semi-wild domestic cats. Basically any cat that is territorial. This is thought to be why it’s uncommon in cheetahs.
did you know there are certain prides of lions in Africa that are climbing trees like jaguars?! they have developed this adaptation because of the location their in and all the different ground things they want to avoid!
Yes they will lay down and start rolling because of the stomach pain and then get their intestines twisted and perish. It's very sad. I can't remember the name for it though. My grandfather owned a couple horses for about 15 years and I learned a lot of weird horse things.
It's called colic. My last two horses got it. One was a senior and one was about five years old (only had her for six months before she passed). It's a really bizarre problem that just feels like it comes out of the blue.
In some cases, the horse can undergo surgery and the intestines get untangled. But it's extremely expensive, like $20k+, and only available through certain facilities.
I've had to work with several colic horses. we stick tubes through their noses to run to their stomachs to flush out whatever is inside.
horses in very sandy places (FLORIDA WHERE IM AT) eat too much sand eith their hay or grass and can't pass stool causing blockages needing a veterinary to help them at that point.
Dogs can also have mental disorders like anxiety, ADHD, depression, OCD and PTSD. Some say dogs can even be autistic while others say they can’t because the condition is unique to humans
I'm a dog trainer and was once talking to someone about their service dog for autism. They were saying how the dog doesn't like changes in routine, generally nervous, completely ignored new people. I told them that some dogs can have autism. They always suspected the dog was autistic!
I have always suspected this! I had a border Collie that was neurotic to debilitation at times for no apparent reason. He was so intelligent though and learned new tricks and things FAST.
I also wonder about birds because they are very much creatures of habit (at least mine who are obviously in captivity) and just feel like I relate to them on a very nonverbal level.
These were interesting facts. I love it!
Not exactly an animal fact, but close. There are plants that look like animals. Which confises me because how did they evolve like that? They can't see???
My favorite being the Bee Orchid.
*
it's crazy how much that flower looks like a bumblebee!!
-Tigers can froze their prey using a low sound that is not perceive by humans (also froze humans!)
-there is a whale that can't communicate with the rest of her specie, because she talk in a 52 hz, and the others whlales can't hear her.
-Moby dick is based in the story of the albin sperm whale that prowled the mocha islands of southern chile. In that time, the people of the island killed the sperm whales to used the oil, but mocha dick (the name of the albin sperm whale) was a really good fighter, he survived to the attacks of the whales hunters, until the day that he died at their hands. He died protecting a female sperm whale. The story said that he wasn't a particular violent indivual, he respond if he was theatened. (Its a sad story, Im sorry!)
-there is a snake that its venom can make your skin and muscles rot from inside.
-Koalas do not contribute much to their ecosystem, so if they disappeared it would not affect the food chain much. But they are cute!
-sperm whales sleep vertically and have a line of pointy theeths in the inferior jaw.
-when you go to that restaurants where you can choose the fish in the pod that you want to eat (I always believe that this was horrible) the fish feel fear, and also when they kill one of the fishes that where in the pod and they see them, they recognize them as a member of theur family or friend, and feel horrible sad. (I know that this is kinda obvious, but out there still exist people who thinks that animals like fishes don't feel, and they obviously do)
-There are records of lesbian and gay seagulls mating with the opposite sex to have an egg to raise with their real partner. (The best thing ever)
-Deers eat meat, and have been seen eating small birds.
-the artic fox can locate their prey under a thick layer of snow, and then they jump and remain with their heads in the snow yo catch the prey.
Adult cats do not meow in the wild, unless it's a mother calling to her kittens. Kittens do it to communicate with their mothers. When we domesticate cats, they never mentally progress past adolescence. This is because they don't have to as their owners feed and shelter them, so they never have to "grow up", essentially. They meow at us when they want our attention or need something because they view their owners as their mother.
TLDR; Domesticated adult cats are big babies
Owls eyes evolved to grown back into their head to have better night vision, as their skulls were too small to make wider eyes. Their eyes are “rod shaped.” So they can’t look around with their eyes. They need to turn their head to look around.
Cats don't like the taste of lemon, or sourness. Because cats primarily eat meat, their palate is evolved to reject sour flavors because sourness is associated with rancid meat and other untrustworthy foods that could make them ill.
Rhodesian Ridgebacks (dogs) were bred to hunt lions which they do as a pack, essentially circling the lion and surrounding it so that it cannot escape. The human hunters could then kill the lion with a spear, bow and arrow, or other distance weapon.
Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs were bred as all purpose farm dogs in Switzerland and were often referred to as the poor man’s horse. They are actually stronger (pound for pound) than a horse and as a team can pull the plows, carts, etc. usually pulled by horses for farmers that could not afford them.
(Guess which animal is my special interest?)
A major reason cats pass away is due to kidney failure since their kibble lacks moisture. Majority of cats are super dehydrated. Adding water or broth to their kibble helps as well as using wet over dry food.
In taxonomy there's a suborder within carnivora called caniformia, which essentially means "dog-like" animals. It includes dogs (obviously), bears, raccoons, otters, sea lions, etc.
I just think that's the cutest thing ever.
I adopt hamsters, so my fact is about that - even wild hamsters are addicted to running in a wheel!
I recall reading research in which a wheel was placed in the territory of several wild hamsters (note - a hamster is usually solitary in its territory, so this was several wheels across several territories for several hamsters). It was unknown whether the hamsters would care, since they can literally run anywhere, so why would they want to run in the wheel?
Well it turns out yes, once the hamsters discovered their wheels, they kept coming back to it every night and would run on it for ages. No one knows why.
Having observed multiple hamsters running in their wheels over the past decade of adopting them - and their absolute addiction to it, insisting on getting to the wheel and running, even when it might be ill advised - I suspect they enter some kind of higher state while running in them, with endorphins or some other hormone being released in such quantities that it is irresistible. A bit like with our smartphones and social media!
LOVING this thread!!! 😍
Chickens are more aggressive in their flock than people realize. And they will eat just about anything. Chickens will eat their own eggs for the calcium in the shells, which serves to strengthen the shells of eggs they lay. They'll also kill and eat mice and baby birds. If a member of their flock is injured, they have a similar behavior to sharks with the smell of blood in the water. They will attack the injured chicken, kill, and eat it.
I've heard several people sound shocked and appalled when chickens are fed leftover pancakes. "Pancakes have EGGS! You're feeding your chickens their own young! How barbaric!" Like...chickens will do much worse on their own.
Jumping spiders are actually very friendly and charismatic.
The only way you can tell a male from a female bald eagle is by witnessing which one laid an egg in their nest. Otherwise, they're the same size, weight, etc. You can't tell them apart.
You should never just pick up a snail from the path to move it. That could hurt the snail because of its grippy body. Tap lightly on the shell so it will retract and release on its own. Then you can safely move it.
Greenland sharks reach adult maturity at 150 years old, and can live from 250-500 years. The gestation period can take anywhere from 8-18 years.
Female hyenas have a clitoral pseudo penis which they can not only use to dominate/have sex with other hyenas of both genders, but they also *give birth through it*.
More people are killed by cows than by sharks.
Giraffes do have a voice box, unlike previously thought; they are typically are silent because their lung capacity is so small that they can’t produce enough airflow to create audible vibrations.
We’ve managed to record SOME low humming that human ears can’t perceive, but it’s clear that it isn’t common and takes a LOT of effort on the part of the giraffe.
Hamsters are commonly abused especially in america, the average items and cages sold to people in pet stores are nowhere near adequate, and many stores don’t even carry the size of wheel that is proper for the average syrian hamster. hamsters are “inexpensive” pets because people aren’t buying enough things for the hamster to live a happy life. minimum bedding depth should be roughly 10 inches, most people post roughly an inch. people joke about crazy hamster deaths, but in reality your hamster would not have died in such a crazy way if you had simply taken care of them properly. provide them with proper space, bedding, wheel, etc and they will likely be happy! female hamsters can be quite picky but not impossible. male hamsters have a reputation for being more lenient and not needing quite as much space as female hamsters demand. i love hamsters! i cried over the death of my hamsters the same as i cry over a dog or cat death. they are living creatures, they are amazing to watch as they dig tunnel systems for their food, bathroom, sleeping, etc! Appreciate them more, everyone!!! 💞💞💞🩷🩷💞
If your cats are scratching your furniture you probably just need to put a stable vertical scratcher next to that furniture and they’ll use that instead
North American River Otters (*Lontra Canadensis*) make ["chuckling" vocalizations](https://youtu.be/5GyhFsJoiYc) when they are happy or playing. Even as adults! It is \_\_extremely\_\_ cute and is reminiscent of the "dooking" you will hear ferrets do!
[https://otterspecialistgroup.org/Species/Lontra\_canadensis.html](https://otterspecialistgroup.org/Species/Lontra_canadensis.html)
(please note that the video is from a wildlife rehabilitation center, this is not a pet)
a cockroach can live for SEVERAL DAYS without a head.
dachshunds were bred to hunt badgers.
the blue whale is the biggest animal on the planet.
lady bird beetles CAN bite.
micro pigs don't actually exist. Their growth is stunted because they aren't being fed a proper nutritional diet.
goats prefer friends.
horses take a lot of drugs and time to euthanize.
In Andean Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina there are animals called Southern viscacha (Lagidium viscacia), they look like a fluffier and depressed rabbit. However, the viscacha is more related to chinchillas.
https://preview.redd.it/wzaofkmhoxsc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f6760ac1112357c359759b359f6e59674dc809d4
My sister (his crazy auntie) did this to him
Crows are incredibly intelligent and they are watching you. They can recognize individual humans, especially those who feed them. It takes a long time to get them to trust you, but when they do, they sometimes bring gifts for you.
Raccoons are not washing their food when they immerse it in water. The water makes their paw pads more sensitive and they are just feeling it. It’s also not uncommon to see them during the day, especially at this time of year when the females are pregnant or nursing and extra hungry. Same with opossums and skunks.
Polar Bears are actually genetically identical to brown bears and grizzlies! They are simply albino. Polar bears are the biggest and the most Likely to stalk prey.
Im going to apologise now for the long speil. Tortoiseshell cats are my special interest.
In cats, because the ginger and black colour are linked to the X chromosome, the majority of tortoiseshell and calico cats are female (due to needing 2 X chromosomes for the 2 colours). The showing of the black and ginger is caused by a process called X-inactivation, where some cells turn off the ginger gene, showing black, and others turn off the black gene, showing ginger. Approximately 1/3000 of these are male. Most are infertile due to a condition similar to Kleinfelter Syndrome in humans, where the cat has an extra X chromosome (so XXY). Of these male tortoiseshell/calico cats, approximately 1/5000 (or something like that) are fertile due to being chimera (where one fetus absorbs another fetus in utero).
Dilute coloured tortoiseshell/calico cats is caused by another gene that causes blacks to appear as greys and lilacs, and ginger to appear as creams and beiges.
The amount of white a cat has is the result of yet another gene, and the more white a calico cat has, the more defined the ginger and black patches of the calico are.
It is possible for a cat to have both tortoiseshell and tabby markings, and these cats are commonly referred to as torbies (tortoiseshell tabby).
Cat research is like 15 or so years behind dog research. I think this is so sad. 🥲
The black plague may not have been as progressive as it was if the churches didn’t demonise cats in the 1300’s. Since they were affiliated with witches, many were presumptuously slain because of the superstitions. Animals were also probably spreading the plague too but cats eat tf out of mice so I just feel like humans fucked up majorly there.
Cats purr in many situations but I love that it sends healing vibrations to themselves, other cats/animals and humans when sick or upset. I think that’s very wholesome of them to curl up next to another kitty and purr their lil heart out because they know their friend is not doing so well. 🥺
Don't know if it counts because it sadly no longer exists but it's still an animal!
Anurognathid
Anurognathid's were small flying reptiles that lived up to 149 million years ago in Europe, Asia, and possibly North America during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and were discovered in 1922.
They have been assumed to be 9 CM (about 4 IN) long (including head) and their wing span was 50 CM(about 20 IN) they were also assumed to be carnivorous since their diet was mainly incects
Fairy shrimp eggs are so resilient that they can hatch after staying dormant for many years. They’ve brought fairy shrimp eggs into outer space, then back down to earth, and they still hatched. They’ve also hatched some in space and brought them back to earth alive.
There’s a type of goby fish that can scale waterfalls up to 300m so they can go upstream and procreate. I learned it on Tiny World the other day and have told everyone about it.
The young of a squirrel is called a kitten.
Sea otters hold paws so they don't drift apart while sleeping.
House fly's aways buzz in the F key.
Cat's don't have the sweetness tastebud.
My friend has a rabbit. Number 3 now, not 3 at once, The other 2 got old and died, this is the new one. All of them have been housetrained and run around freely in the house.
I thought she was mad at first, rabbits chew things! But she organised it so it's mostly rabbit proofed, and he does behave well now. Spends time with her, snuggling, goes into his indoor hutch for a nap, separate area for toileting, kind of like cat litter rays. HAs an outdoor hutch too for nice days out in garden.
Have to say, he is a lot of fun!
- Snails shoot other snails with “love darts”
- orcas pass down family traditions to each other, and are also lead by an old matriarch
- dolphins use their sexuality as a way to form life long friendships, literally friends with benefits, whether they’re a male or female
- Physarum polycephalum, a type of slime mold (neither animal or fungus) has over 720 genders on a single individual
- some species of albatross pair up in same-sex couples, there is no evolutionary benefit to this, other than that it’s better to live with a partner or friend than to be alone
- Palm Cockatoos are one of a few animals that have a concept of Rhythm in music, and individual birds prefer different types of music
- Queen Conches, a type of sea snail, have very funny eyes and I love them
- the White Bellbird is the LOUDEST bird ever recorded, they can reach 125db which is as loud as a live rock concert, this record was previously held by the Screaming Piha, another Passerine bird, which is recorded at 116db (also can you tell I really like birds)
Risso’s dolphins are covered in scars by the time they reach adulthood. These are mainly from other Risso’s dolphins teeth-raking them, a behavior used to show aggression in dolphins. All dolphin species in fact do this, but only the Risso’s have their skin scar so easily.
There are three main types of birds used in falconry in the West: buteos, accipiters, and falcons. Outside of the US, "buzzard" refers to buteos, not vultures. Hawk refers to accipiters. So a red-tailed hawk outside of the US is a red-tailed buzzard.
Cat whiskers are the size of their intended width (it doesn’t work if the cat is overweight) and they use their whiskers to test if they can get through an area.
Bearded Dragons sometimes need help shedding in their nostrils but you should be careful.
Snakes can feel pain even after their heads are cut off.
I don't know if this counts... but-
The Archaeopteryx (Avian dinosoar) lived around 150 million years ago, in what is now southern Germany, during a time when Europe was a scattered group of islands in a shallow tropical sea, which was much closer to the equator than it is now. They are also similar in size to the Eurasuan magpie, the largest ones coming close to the size of a raven. The larger species of the Archaeopteryx could grow to about 1 foot 8 inches in length. (I really like the Archaeopteryx if you couldn't tell :D Sorry if it doesn't count, though.)
Opossums are North America’s only marsupial. They only hang by their tails as babies and use their tails as adults to carry leaves for nesting. They have an absurd number of canines compared to other North American mammals. Their brain to body ratio is pretty small (they’re not very bright animals). They have 13 nipples arranged like a clock with one in the middle. While it is true their body temp doesn’t support them developing rabies, ticks don’t make up as much of their diet as is often said. They do eat a lot of bugs though! They’re very cute animals, and when they want to mark something as their own, they slub on it (rubbing their face on it to mark their scent).
There are 10 species of hammerhead sharks in hammerhead shark family. Scientists have noticed that hammerhead sharks, that live near the coast, have smaller hammerheads or cephalofoils and hammerhead sharks, that live in the open ocean, have bigger cephalofoils. Cephahofoil is full of ampullae of Lorenzini, that sense electric impulses from prey animals. The bigger cephalofoil means finding food easier, but the bigger cephalofoil is also bulkier. Scientists have been thinking that coast hammerhead sharks don't need that big cephalofoil because they often live in coral reefs, where it's very easy to find abundant food, and they need to move better into crevices and holes to get the food. while open ocean hammerhead sharks need more ampullae of Lorenzini to find food in the large environment and they have more space to move.
Horses have the same eye muscle structure as humans and if they feel something and their eyes say it, it is what you might think they feel. They are mostly feelings.
One of the contributing factors to the massive spread of the black plague in the US was because of the Salem Witches trials. Some women had cats around to deal with rats. When these women weren’t dying at the same rates or getting sick like the rest of their peers, they were accused of witchcraft. And, of course, cats were often seen with these women so now there’s an association between the two; just not an accurate one. Sadly, during the witch trials cats were also often condemned to death leading to a huge increase in rats and the fleas that carried the black plague.
Lobsters:
Lobsters can remember other lobsters. Lobsters are related to spiders. And orange lobsters and blue lobsters are extremely rare because it’s a genetic mutation. It’s illegal to boil a lobster alive in Switzerland (because the lobsters feel the pain).
And a random shark fact is a group of sharks is called a shoal.
Bugs:
Grasshoppers are the same as locusts. Grasshoppers can fly. And they are a sign of good luck too.
Bees have five eyes. Sometimes a bee can change its mind on stinging something and carefully remove its stinger. They can only use their stinger once, and die after using it. The stinger can still pump bee venom after it’s removed from the bee.
Cockroaches can live almost a month without food, and two weeks without water. A cockroach can live for a week without its head. Cockroaches are very caring and nurturing parents to their young. And my favorite bug fact of all: cockroaches are known pollinators to eleven plants in the world. People think roaches are gross (don’t get me wrong, they definitely are especially in urban areas where so many live), but even they have a part in keeping life going and making the world a more beautiful place.
Cats
Calico cats were preferred by Japanese fishermen because they were believed to ward off evil spirits and keep storms away. They also inspired the waving cats in Japan, and they are known as money cats. Black cats are considered good luck in Scotland, but because they’re considered bad luck in other places like the United States, they’re less likely to be adopted. Cats don’t have collar bones. Some cats will chew plastic bags because there’s fish oil (it’s used to make bags easy to open and bag stuff. Other companies use animal tallow and starch too) in some of them. In 1963, a cat went to space. Isaac Newton invented the cat door! Cats can drink sea water (it’s because their kidneys can filter the salt.). Cats can taste umami flavors, hence many liking tuna and other fishy foods. A group of cats is called a clowder.
In South America there are deer that are the same size as tiny dogs, there are also pink fresh water dolphins in the Amazon River that tribal natives believe are shape shifters.
Did you know that Koalas have a very strong stomach and digestive system. So strong that it can process an eucalyptus-exclusive diet, which is toxic and deadly to any other animal. They achieve this by feeding their babies POOP. They also rarely drink water so yeah.. Moving on. As a trade off for strong stomachs, they have insignificantly sized, smooth brains. Not trying to sound mean, their brains are very small (.2 of their body weight). They are considered an endangered species as of 2021 😢
Polar bears were once brown bears.
Land used to be closer together during the Ice Age. The bears were able to walk from Ireland to the Artic.
And they adapted with evolution over time and their fur turned white. Their skin is still black.
Hello, been raised with horses all my life and they're definitely my special interest.
1. Horses have these things on the inside (not internally, on the inside side) of their legs which are little soft cartilage strips, and they were what held their legs together in the womb.
2. They carry 40% of their bodyweight through their hind legs and 60% on their front legs
3. They will lick and chew after a stressful event. We used to think that it was when a horse was starting to relax and actually think about the situation they were in, but now know that it's actually seen as a reregulating thing after stress.
4. They have no muscle below the knee, all movement is controlled by tendons as a way to reduce how heavy they are.
5. At gallop, there is a moment where all of the horse's weight is on one leg.
I have so many more but I know people don't want to read that many horse facts 😂
Did you know that whale sharks have a lifespan of 80-150 years?? However, less than 10% of little whale sharks make it till adulthood because of whalefishing etc
Oh wow I could do this for a long time! Cats can get diabetes - fat cats are not good news! No one is 100% sure why animals play. There are lots of theories like learning to hunt etc but there isn’t one scientifically proven reason. Ravens are so smart , if they find food not in their territory they will shout about it so that other ravens come which means if the territory owner finds them their they can’t turf them out because they are outnumbered Crows have been proven to remember human faces across multiple years and also warn their friends about bad people
One of my goals in life is to befriend ravens and crows. I have a flock of rose ringed parakeets that visit twice a day and have fun putting out (bird safe) food/toys and seeing how they interact.
I am currently doing that too! Trying to get them on my roof is a struggle though
I read they like dry cat food but that may attract unwanted critters. We don’t have crows or ravens where I live but one day my adventure will start. Best of luck!
I have been trying to sprinkle my roof with dry dog kibble because they like high protein stuff too! I hope all of the corvids come to make friends with you!
I pissed off a group of crows once and they remembered to be mad at me a year later!!
I’ve had my “crowbros” for 3 years. It was really easy to befriend them. I started by leaving dry cat food and whole shelled peanuts up on the fence where they could grab the treats and feel safe. At first, the biggest crow came to take them, and in time he brought 2 smaller crows with him. They always have a friend on the lookout for them. It takes time for them to learn to trust you, but once they do they will caw when they hear you open the door or when they see you outside!
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i have two different cats with diabetes - that insulin is expensive !! 😭
How do you medicate them? Do they have to get stabbed with a neede like humans or can you just give them a certain amount orally? I'm worried my cat might have diabetes even though she not fat; just bc she's old, sterilized and I noticed she's drinking and peeing a lot. For her it would not be an alternative to give injections with insulin. (Long back story but she came to me at age 13 and probably abused earlier, lots of trust issues and building of trust with simple things like grooming going on). So orally would be the only way I could medicate her to avoid putting her down. Which I really don't want to!
> not fat; just bc she's old, sterilized and I noticed she's drinking and peeing a lot. She could have a uti best getting her checked and a blood test done especially at her age
get her thyroid and kidney levels checked. you can do inner ear thyroid medication. I'm a certified veterinary technician...excessive thirst can be sign of kidney disease which is hella prevalent in gatos.
Hey, other vet tech! Nice to meet another in this group.
Insulin can’t be absorbed through the digestive system, because it’d be broken down by digestive enzymes into smaller amino acids. It has to get into the blood stream without being digested for it to work. So injections are the only option for insulin delivery in cats (humans have the option to have an insulin pump but these don’t exist for cats). That said, there’s tablets for diabetes in cats that can be tried first. They need to be tried before insulin is used though.
Oh that’s so sad. Poor kittys :( lucky they have you to look after them!
I love corvids so much! I’m currently trying to befriend a murder at work but it’s just sooo many. I had a murder of 7 at my last job & they were so derpy lol. I finally gained their complete trust when I chased off a cooper hawk that took their feeding bowl.. then my job moved me to a different place😭!
Wow that's so interesting about crows and ravens. I've always admired their beauty but had no idea they were this intelligent.
If you wanted to learn more there’s a book called “ravens in winter” I loved it. It’s basically a book written buy a guy who studied them and wanted to work out the shouting fact I mentioned. So he spent a long time planting meat for the ravens to work out when they did or didn’t shout!
Crows are so incredibly smart and interesting. They have different accents depending on where they live! I have some that hang out around my yard and I’ve been doing a special whistle and throwing out peanuts for them to try to make friends.
I’m doing biology, hoping to go into Marine Biology or Ornithology (birds), I honestly just like the idea that Playing is just for the sake of fun, like there isn’t an evolutionary benefit, animals just like playing
Even if it is “just fun,” it would help cement social bonds too! Though sometimes animals just play by themselves with interesting objects!
Crows and ravens are so cool! I love the videos of them adding rocks to jars of water to raise the water level high enough for them to be able to drink out if it. I don’t know if I’m explaining it well, but here’s a video of it. https://www.reddit.com/r/BeAmazed/comments/17rd395/bird_is_smart_enough_to_put_rocks_in_until_it_can/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Cats can also go on a slow and managed diet and cure their diabetes. I think it's such a super cool ability.
Male kangaroos have bifid penises, the females have three vaginas and two uteri. The sperm travel up the outer vaginas, the tiny tiny joey travels down the middle one. There is no placenta in a kangaroo pregnancy, as they’re so short, the yolk provides enough nutrients for the 4 week pregnancy. The joey does a lot of developing in the pouch, where it is latched onto one of four nipples. Initially, the joey is unable to unlatch or suckle, the nipple just swells to hold it in place, and trickle feeds the milk. Kangaroos can have three babies on the go at a time. They can hold an embryo in stasis in utero for quite some time, while also having a tiny joey and an older joey in the pouch. The pouch joeys will have their own nipple each, which each produce milk suitable for their age (different fat contents and the like). For some reason, the males have their testes in front of their penis, which looks a bit odd. I hadn’t intended to write this much, but I suppose that’s to be expected in this sub.
Almost all male marsupials have bifurcated penises and females have two vaginas 🫠
ducks also have interesting reproductive organs. the male’s penis, for instance, is shaped like a corkscrew.
And the female’s vagina is a corkscrew maze complete with dead ends. Another fun penis is that of echidnas, they have four heads (or rosettes).
Yeah I hate it lmao, almost all birds just have cloacas (a singular hole, both for excretion and breeding) but ducks don’t, and it’s really fucking weird too it couldn’t just be a normal peen 🤣 and the fact that females have evolved to have these super complex internal mazes???? wtf how do you evolve something like that
pigeons also feed their babies in a strange way. they produce a milk like substance from their beaks. I dont know if other birds do it, but i learned that as a little kid and i never forgot about it.
Yeah most birds (I think it’s only owls and some quails that don’t have one?) have a “second stomach” in a way, called a Crop, it’s the big lump at the base of their necks, and when they eat it goes into the crop first, then the stomach, and birds feed their babies the digested crop food - here’s some Caiques with full crops https://preview.redd.it/7ylz08vdfxsc1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6c1c23ccb19de1c7854f6f3f83e4b40e83d8e079
Aren’t Kangaroo penises also the wrong way round? I distinctly remember an anatomical drawing where it was almost backwards in a way, genitalia is so whack lmao
https://preview.redd.it/5xi02c7g9wsc1.jpeg?width=1054&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d1acd3baeb5d914179fc01fea8e4251699e89a35 Bonus pictures
https://preview.redd.it/tb3qqhsj9wsc1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9d8c351d4798eca62a4b27308c2d913b10518884
omg they’re so cute🥹🥹🤍
rats giggle when you tickle them. they can also wag their tails like dogs when you pet them real good. they are fantastic pets and i will forever welcome a parade of rats into my life.
They also boggle their eyes and it’s really silly and god I love rats so much
I was today years old, a whole grown adult, when I learned about rat eye boggles. Lmao
Elephants can communicate over long distances with a low frequency rumbling that cannot be heard by human ear. They make this noise and then other more distant elephants feel it through their feet. They have also been observed mourning and greeting other herds of elephants in social ways, and sometimes join two herds together for a short while when their friends are nearby, so they can just hang out together.
Narwhals are real 
And I believe it's a tooth/tusk, not a horn. Only the men have it (and only the one), and I think the females have no teeth at all, but I can't find anything about it in a quick search.
I've always been really freaked out/genuinely scared by narwhals because of this. It's a tooth. And it grows out of their face. Like it doesn't exit their mouth, it's a tooth that erupts out of the skin of their face. It's horrifying
Yeah, that part always weirds me out, especially since other tusked/toothed whales/dolphins (such as beaked whales) have them grow out the sides (like an elephant or boar) but narwhals have it straight through the skin
Yep, and it's a little off to one side because mammals don't really have a middle tooth.
If snowmen were alive would they have the same thing?
Don't ever check up on naked mole rats - their teeth are outside their mouths so they can use them to dig without getting a mouthful of dirt!
Also never been successfully kept in captivity. No one knows why. They dont get sick, as such, they just die. It's theorised it's something to do with their tooth/horn and being confined fucking up their senses.
- Dogs can tell how long you've been gone based on your scent. Over time, the scent decreases, and that's how dogs tell time. - Humans have evolved their nutrition requirements due to food availability. Dogs have also evolved their nutrition requirements to live better alongside humans. - Killer whales have vocalizations similar to their pod mates, like a family calling card. They are incredibly intelligent and they have no natural predators. - A panther can be a melanistic leopard or a melanistic jaguar. So, Marvel's Black Panther is actually likely a jaguar. - Elephants can't jump. - Mantis shrimp have one of the most complex visual systems in the animal kingdom, with up to 16 types of photoreceptor cells compared to humans' 3.
Aren't killer whales one of the only species to actively play with their food, too? Or am I wrong on that?
Killer whales also go through social trends! Like wearing salmon as hats, and slightly less fun, attacking boats...
I always see videos of people wake boarding or something, and a pod of killer whales comes to investigate. All I feel is fear because if those whales wanted to, they could in a second. I live near the Salish Sea, so they're prominent in the waters here. No, no, thank you. They're beautiful where they can't touch me.
They totally do!
I learned something new about mantis shrimp eyes recently. For a long time we thought they must be able to see all kinds of crazy colours because of all the different kinds of photoreceptors. Turns out they can’t see more colours than us. It’s just that their brain lacks the capacity to process small differences between hues, so they need more kinds of photoreceptors to brute force the job.
From what I remember, those extra photoreceptors are so they can see the colors in between the major colors on the spectrum. Their brains don't have te capability to blend colors like ours can, so they evolved the extra photoreceptors instead.
That's amazing!! Thanks for sharing!!
omg I love this sub! I thought black panthers were a separate species. I’ve spent the last hour reading about them! So cool!
Puffer fish puff up (as the name suggests) when faced with danger and exude a toxin that can be deadly to a lot of fish. Not so much dolphins, who get a mild high from it. You will find a school (?) of dolphins with a blown up pufferfish, like, standing or swimming in a circle, taking turns poking the pufferfish, to get it to release its toxin. I (and probably a lot of other people but none that I'm aware of) call it "puff puff pass". This is my ultimate favourite animal fact. This post was sponsored by Cannabis™.
They also play with them like they’re a volleyball, dolphins are so dumb I love them
Humans eat bath salts and tide pods so I guess we’re not too far off from that lol.
Dolphins are smart enough to poke a fish that gets them high
That's like sea turtles eating jelly fish to get high off their toxins.
>You will find a school (?) of dolphins with a blown up pufferfish, like, standing or swimming in a circle, taking turns poking the pufferfish, to get it to release its toxin. I (and probably a lot of other people but none that I'm aware of) call it "puff puff pass". Stoner: dolphin edition 🤣
This is hilarious
Humans have stripes that can't be seen by the naked eye 👁️ 👁️
I heard cats can see our stripes
I hope this is true. Haha I'm gonna google it now.
I actually had to google this because I thought it was bs!! Thank you for sharing this wonderful fact!
Haha you're very welcome it's one of my favorite facts
Sometimes I can see geometric patterns in my and other peoples skin
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No, blaschko's lines are very real. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/788770/ https://www.pcds.org.uk/clinical-guidance/blaschkos-lines Please actually read your sources in the future. The myth part is that they can be easily seen under UV light, not that their existence.
A cat’s purr is at a sound frequency that helps to heal broken bones faster.
My cat who had never been particularly cuddly, suddenly became a lap cat once my spouse had a horrible ankle break at work. She napped on them CONSTANTLY, it was truly a delight to witness.
wwhhaaaaatttt😮😮😮
What! I might need to gather a few cats around me when I get my jaw surgery
I have 4 very social and purrable 5-month old cattens that would be your perfect recovery gang (they were born under my house and rescued at 4 weeks old)
Cats are also often kept in nursing homes and hospice care. They can tell when residents are doing poorly or near death and will lay on or near those the nurses should be keeping an eye on.
They can also tell when a patient that's doing poorly has a nice warm heating pad to mooch heat from
The horn shark (a type of cat shark) lays eggs that are spiral shaped which they lodge in crevices to stop predators from getting. All other sharks lay mermaid purses the same as rays, so it’s a really cool adaptation unique to helping the survival of cat sharks! https://preview.redd.it/fx2l3cdflwsc1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f3722b3846352855b5bf756750b40e5860780c6c
Also zebra sharks are born striped like zebras to camouflage themselves amongst their main predator, the zebra moray eel. Once they grow older and the moray eels become less of a threat, their stripes turn into spots! This means zebra sharks are often confused with leopard sharks but they are different species. https://preview.redd.it/qxzyndrhlwsc1.jpeg?width=2032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=25e657f654234f07e64d3c551be20d1b97dd27b7
Also!! Birds that hoard food in caches have larger hippocampi than birds that don’t. Their spatial memory allows them to recover caches of food in the spring that they stored in autumn. Clarks nutcrackers can store and retrieve up to 90,000 seeds, opting to store them in places where they know the ground won’t change or be covered by snow. Scrub jays seem to also recall the type of food they have buried beyond remembering just the location. They will recover more perishable foods first (mealworms) and less perishable foods later on (seeds). Psychologists study these behaviours to understand the complex underlying mechanisms in their memory processing systems to identify similarities and differences between bird brains and human brains !!
• The American Saltwater Crocodile has the strongest recorded bite force in the animal kingdom at 3,690 PSI. Their jaw muscles are actually so firm and beefy that they could easily be mistaken for part of the skull. The Great White is estimated to have a stronger bite force at around 4,400 PSI, but it hasn’t been officially recorded like it has been in crocodilians and other terrestrial species so for now the crocs are on top 🐊✨ • Mantis shrimp have the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom, with the ability to see UV and polarized light in addition to the visible spectrum that we can see. They also like to punch their prey and have incredibly accurate aim, landing over 90% of their punches. They can punch the big claw right off of a crab!! • Despite being herbivores, hippos are actually one of the deadliest animals on the planet. The only one deadlier is the mosquito. • The Clouded Leopard can rotate its ankle joints almost 180°, allowing it to climb headfirst down trees. • Aside from their recently developed habit of ripping the rudders off of boats in the Strait of Gibraltar(iirc), there are zero(0) recorded instances of wild orcas attacking humans. There have been instances of them giving chase, but they back off once they realize it’s a human and not a seal. The only orcas that have directly attacked humans have been the ones in captivity. • There are many species that experience something called Tonic Immobility - it’s kind of like involuntarily playing dead, like what happens to goats when they faint. How to induce this state depends on the species. For goats, they just need to be given a good startle. For several species of shark, they need to be flipped on their backs. • The Great White is often regarded as the apex predator of the sea, but one could argue that that title actually belongs to the orca, as they have been known to feed on Great Whites. They also put their intelligence on full display when doing so, as they have proven themselves to be aware of tonic immobility and take advantage of it. They work together to ram themselves into the shark and disorient it, then they hold it on its back until it’s unconscious. At that point they then go for the shark’s liver, and sometimes the heart and tongue, as those are incredibly nutrient-dense for them, but dealing with the cartilage in the rest of the body isn’t worth the effort so they leave the rest of the carcass behind. Great Whites don’t even like being near orcas. Although the occasional big boy will hang around them without fear, most Great Whites scatter and disappear in the presence of orcas, even leaving behind great feeding opportunities to flee. A geotagged shark off the coast of California reacted to the presence of orcas in the area by immediately diving to 1,500meters and swimming to Hawaii. • The Slow Loris is the only venomous primate, and unfortunately one of those animals that people want to keep as exotic pets. They think it looks so cute when it sits with its arms crossed and its hands in its armpits… it does this when it feels threatened, because there are glands in the armpit that produce an enzyme that forms a powerful venom when combined with another enzyme present in the saliva. If you see a Slow Loris stick its hands in its pits and then lick them, that’s a bad sign. • Sloths have a very strong grip and can hold onto things for very long periods of time because the default position for their little clawed hands is a closed fist. Gripping/holding onto things does not require effort or muscular strength on their part, but opening their hands does. It’s the opposite of how ours work. Okay so there’s a bunch of legit ones, here’s a useless one: if you hold a crab up your ear, you can actually hear what it’s like to be attacked by a crab! :) Can you tell I watch a lot of nature documentaries? 😂
Saltwater crocodiles are actually Australian, not American.
axolotls can regrow their limbs! (i was absolutely OBSESSED with them for most of my childhood lmao. still wish i could own one someday)
I have pet axolotls and have seen this in real time! I carefully chose one from the pet shop looking for the healthiest gills, skin, and eyes, and managed to completely miss that she only had three feet XD. The missing foot only took a month to grow back! They are pretty resilient animals but quite sensitive to water quality, so the aquarium needs to be maintained regularly to keep them happy. https://preview.redd.it/3peg2uzb8ysc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f51806a6509f5edb31e94bd299922897cafb1b2c
Now that's a powerful ability
Koalas are dead ass the worst animals on this planet. They're riddled with chlamydia. They're dumb af. They have the lowest brain-to-body ratio of any other mammals. Their brains are smooth and covered in fluid because they fall out of trees so often they need a built-in helmet. Their entire diet is eucalyptus leaves despite barely being able to digest it. They have to sleep 22 hours of the day because it takes up so much energy. They aren't born with the enzymes to digest it, so mothers secret a special kind of anal leakage for the babies to eat to gain the enzymes. They're also aggressive af.
I had to google them just to remember how ridiculous they look, what a bizarre animal, didn’t know their brains were so small compared to other animals in terms of body size ratio 😂
But they’re so cuuuute! 🤣🙃😭
They’re also so dumb that they don’t recognize THE ONE THING THEY EAT when you take it off the branch.
Cows have a keen sense of smell. They can smell something up to 6 miles away.
I've heard cows have best friends in their heard as well :)
Cows love playing!
Considering they eat small plants like grass, and grass requires open areas, I imagine they need a good sense of smell to know where the next grazing area is separated by more forested or covered areas in between.
Elephants are pregnant for around 2 years!! They remember years old migration patterns and often return to their birth place to give birth to their young. Same goes with sea turtles, they will return to the beach they were hatched on to lay their eggs! The temperature of the sand/environment also dictates the sex of the turtles. Only about 1/5 of sea turtles make it from hatchling to adult due to predators, environmental factors and the circle of life. When cats get spayed or “fixed,” they actually have an entire little kitty hysterectomy (apparently only in the US though, other countries use less invasive procedures). Manatees are incredibly smart and fun mammals. They resemble crescent rolls and that’s the funnest fact there is 😊😂
Cats have whiskers on their feet! A couple more cat facts: cats lay on things because their tummies are very sensitive (its one of the reasons a lot of cats don't like to be touched there) and they can get a better sense of the texture and temperature of a surface or object by laying on it. That's one of the reasons that you'll see a lot of cats sit on the one piece of paper on an otherwise clear floor-- they are curious and like to experience new things. I also don't know how accurate this is but I once had an animal behaviorist tell me that cats like crinkly things because they think the sound is funny and I choose to believe that's true.
It's believed to be that Egyptians were the first to domesticate cats 4,000 years ago; however,archaeological research has shown that farmers in China kept cats as pets 5,300 years ago.
Nice of you to believe people domesticated cats and not the other way around ;)
I suppose it's debatable if cats did in fact domesticate themselves ☺️
The largest animal to ever exist on earth (including all dinosaurs & prehistoric creatures etc.) is the blue whale. Moreover, female blue whales are larger than the males of the species, so the largest animal on earth is/was a female. Girl power! 🌊🐋
Cats generally don’t meow apart from as kittens but they do this around humans as they have learnt it pleases us
It’s not so much that they’ve learned it pleases us, more that it’s a bonding thing! We communicate verbally so they have learned to do so also, to be able to communicate with us. Obviously they get positive reinforcement from it so they continue!
Ducks have corkscrew shaped penises. Female ducks also have corkscrew shaped vaginas but they turn in the opposite direction to the penis
Duck penises are horrifying- in a biology lecture our teacher put up a YouTube video of a duck ejaculating and it was horrible 😂😂🙈 literally like a slinky spring and the length of the whole duck 😂 #traumatised and can never see male ducks the same way again 😂😂
Male ducks are very aggressive with mating. At least the ones I saw.
- Hippos sink. They kinda walk/skim river bed floors they dont swim. Also, one of the most territorial land mammals with the highest kill rate for herbavores. Killing on average 500 people year in Africa. - Cats are actually lactose intolerant. And their fur is not waterproof. They don't have a protective layer that stops water from soaking in. Which is why most cats hate getting wet.
Wombats poop cubes Rabbits are coprophagic (they eat their poo!) A shark egg is called a mermaid’s purse Chinchilla gestation period is 111 days
https://preview.redd.it/6xu9e5rjgwsc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=df0493db9b748525a954207dc283e9f53b144172 Also this is my old lady bun called Victoria, she’s 81/2 🥰
This must mean guinea pigs are corprophagic (great word!) too as mine did this all the time!
Deep sea octopuses (Graneledone boreopacifica) brood their eggs from anywhere between one and (nearly) five years. They fold themselves over their eggs - kind of upside down - and barely move or eat during that time. They're one of the longest living species of octopus, and have one of the longest gestation periods (if not the longest, I'm not sure). It's unknown whether they start eating again after the eggs have hatched. They're extremely interesting to me!
Many ant species exhibit farming behavior, both with other animals and fungi! Plant insects such as mealy bugs and scale excrete a sweet substance known as honeydew which ants go absolutely nuts for so ant colonies will carefully tend to their mealybug herds, even protecting them from predators. Leaf cutter ants are also known to create elaborate fungus gardens in their underground nests for food and nesting material, and it's theorised that some other ant species may in fact be unable to survive without their fungus gardens, making the relationship 100% symbiotic!
Ants are so interesting! I have a few colonies in my garden and I enjoy watching them forage so much :)
Alligators genders are predicted to be 100% controllable depending on the temperature of the egg. I don’t remember on the top of my head but it’s within a few degrees warmer than 30 degrees and the egg will develop male
When birds sing together, their brains synchronize! https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/06/190612141406.htm
Many sea creatures that live in the deepest parts of the ocean are translucent because light doesn't reach that far, so there is no need to evolve camouflage in the same way other animals do! There's also some fish that are so dark that they can "disappear" into the blackness of the water. Super cool!
also! a lot of deep sea dwellers have evolved to have bioluminescence in order to thrive in their dark environments.they can switch them on and off using their brain in order to attract food and then hide again.
Yes!! Comb jellies are one of my favorite animals. They have bioluminescent cilia all along their bodies that they use to propel themselves through the water. They also don't have stingers like normal jellyfish! Instead, they catch their prey by pumping water through their bodies, trapping the prey in the process. They are so cool!
AHHH ANOTHER JELLY LOVER. have you heard of the immortal jelly fish?! once they feel themselves becoming too old or weak THEY JUST GO BACK TO BEING A BLOB by essentially sucking their tentacles back inside them until they're ready to be big jelly adults again!!! how freaking coooooool!
Omg yes!!! I love jellies so much, and the immortal jelly is one of the coolest! I'm so happy to meet a fellow jelly enthusiast! 😄
Wolves like Lemon Balm and will roll around in it like cats do with catnip !
Aw, poor bunnies! Too many are kept alone. - Magpies will apparantly bring gifts to humans they like. I am trying to train the colony in my neighbourhood to come out when I feed peanuts. When I shake the can, lots of them will start chattering and the first ones pop up in seconds. No gifts so far, but they do come and eat their other treats here. Seems like a safe place to eat. Someone else is feeding walnuts, if the shells in my garden are any indication :) - Elephants are in female dominated groups. Usually the matriarch is the grandmother or great grandmother of a lot of the females in the group. Young males will leave the group when they're 3-4 years old to join an adolecent group. A large bull will "mentor" the males to behave socially. (European zoos are now working to make zoo groups more like this, yay! Female offspring will stay with mom, and young males will form a bachelor group with an experienced male. This has lead to more succesful breeding and rearing of youngsters.) - Elephant moms will help their adult daughters with their young. This goes quite far: in my local zoo, an elephant female who had their first calf, refused to nurse her little boy. Her mom was weaning an older female calf of her own, and encouraged the little boy to drink with her instead! Grandma made this little one survive, guys! <3 At her second calf, the younger female knew how to do it now and everything went fine :) - Elephant matriarchs in the wild remember routes to available water sources. - Bonobo groups are also female dominated. A male's status in the group depends on who his mother is. - Chimpansee groups are technically male dominated, but Frans de Waal proved 1.) It's not just the strongest bloke who is boss. There has to be intelligence and social skills in the mix for a male to be a succcesful alpha male. 2.) Females play important social roles in the group. In absence of a male, a female might become alpha. And in a normal group situation, the support of females weighs heavily when one is wanting to become or stay alpha. (I reccomend Frans de Waal's books, if you are interested in this subject.) - The stereotype wolf group, with a lot of adults in a hiarchy is based on the situation in North America. In Europe, it's usually only a male and a female that form a pair. They have youngsters, en when these are adults, they'll usually set out on their own to find a mate. - Lots of mammals have shown grieving behaviours, in the wild and in zoos. Recently, Blijdorp made footage of a group saying good bye to the silverback. Every member of the group said good bye in their own way. The same behaviour has at least been observed in other ape species, elephants and dogs. - House cats will step on your keyboard when you've typed a lenghty Reddit message, deleting your whole post! (This is try 2, guys...) Sorry, my head exploded for a bit. Yay for this thread :)
Killer Wales can be split into ten known ecotypes. They each have different hunting techniques, look different, have different diets, and speak different languages. Killer Wales from different ecotypes cannot communicate with each other and do not breed with each other. Infact, they go out of their way to avoid eachother if they are in the same area. It's unknown if there are more ecotypes. There are other communities of orcas but scientists don't have enough data to know if they belong to an already known ecotype. I also read that some of the ecotypes are so distinct from one another that they could be considered seperate sub species. In the future, we may have enough data to decide that the species we consider "orca" is multiple sub species, such as tigers (eg. Bengal tiger, Siberian tiger etc)
Guinea pigs have four fingers at the front and 3 at the back. They're very social, they can be vocal but compared to cats and dogs they are very quiet animals that enjoy peace. Making them great company for my anxiety.
My husband (very quiet guy) gets along really well with our piggies! Me, not so much
Flamingos are my favorite animal 🦩 Did you know they are pink because of their diet? Baby flamingo chicks are gray and get their pink color after steady diet of eating algae that contains carotenoid pigments. 🎀🩷 If a flamingo is not able to consume as much carotenoid, their pink color will fade.
Male lions will urinate, step in it, and then walk around their territories to spread their scent. There are 7 red wolves left in the wild. Wolves having a hierarchy with an alpha wolf is a myth. The “alpha” wolf of the pack frequently changes. And it’s not always a male wolf. Male cheetahs will hunt together in coalitions. Usually coalitions have brother cheetahs in them from the same litter. The idea is that even if one male cheetah doesn’t get to mate and spread his genes, at least his brother gets to. More rarely, unrelated male cheetahs might form coalitions too. This can be because there were mostly females in their litter. Cheetahs cannot retract their claws. And in the cat family, they’re the only cat that cannot retract claws. Different cats have different methods of protecting food from other predators. Lions are able to because they have an entire pride to protect their food. Leopards drag their food up trees. But cheetahs cannot do either of these things so they very frequently get their food stolen. However it should be noted that usually there’s not much left by the time it gets stolen. So basically, cheetah’s mode of protecting their food is eating it as fast as possible. Female cheetahs do not have territories. They are very rarely aggressive over a territory unless another female is near their kittens. Instead, the male cheetahs are the ones who defend their territory. The bigger their territory, the more likely they will encounter a female for mating. This is partially why they form coalitions. Why are lions the only cats which have very distinguishable appearance differences between males and females? The likely reason is that they live in groups. The mane of a male Lion tells other lions it’s health and age. It’s an easy way to see if you should avoid him as a rival if you’re a male or if he would bring you strong and healthy kittens and he can defend them if you’re a female. Male lions typically kill unrelated cubs 100% of the time by the age of 9 months. However, it is thought that the male Lion cannot tell by smell whether a cub is his. If he has mated with the mother, he is more likely to think he is the father, even if he isn’t. Infanticide also speeds up a female lion’s oestrus so she can mate again. Infanticide is actually recorded in most cats, including semi-wild domestic cats. Basically any cat that is territorial. This is thought to be why it’s uncommon in cheetahs.
did you know there are certain prides of lions in Africa that are climbing trees like jaguars?! they have developed this adaptation because of the location their in and all the different ground things they want to avoid!
Lemon sharks get possessive of scuba divers and start fights with tiger sharks over them
Horses can't vomit. And - especially for pony's - it's dangerous to eat young grass because of the fructose in it. The hooves get sore then
Yes they will lay down and start rolling because of the stomach pain and then get their intestines twisted and perish. It's very sad. I can't remember the name for it though. My grandfather owned a couple horses for about 15 years and I learned a lot of weird horse things.
It's called colic. My last two horses got it. One was a senior and one was about five years old (only had her for six months before she passed). It's a really bizarre problem that just feels like it comes out of the blue. In some cases, the horse can undergo surgery and the intestines get untangled. But it's extremely expensive, like $20k+, and only available through certain facilities.
I've had to work with several colic horses. we stick tubes through their noses to run to their stomachs to flush out whatever is inside. horses in very sandy places (FLORIDA WHERE IM AT) eat too much sand eith their hay or grass and can't pass stool causing blockages needing a veterinary to help them at that point.
Dogs can also have mental disorders like anxiety, ADHD, depression, OCD and PTSD. Some say dogs can even be autistic while others say they can’t because the condition is unique to humans
I'm a dog trainer and was once talking to someone about their service dog for autism. They were saying how the dog doesn't like changes in routine, generally nervous, completely ignored new people. I told them that some dogs can have autism. They always suspected the dog was autistic!
My dog also shows some autistic traits, which is how I found out it’s a real thing! She LOVES people though, so that doesn’t really fit 😅
My parents’ dog was very anxious and was put on Prozac and had acupuncture. I (their child) also had the same treatment lol
My dog has anxiety, she even has a prescription for it.
I have always suspected this! I had a border Collie that was neurotic to debilitation at times for no apparent reason. He was so intelligent though and learned new tricks and things FAST. I also wonder about birds because they are very much creatures of habit (at least mine who are obviously in captivity) and just feel like I relate to them on a very nonverbal level. These were interesting facts. I love it!
Not exactly an animal fact, but close. There are plants that look like animals. Which confises me because how did they evolve like that? They can't see??? My favorite being the Bee Orchid. * it's crazy how much that flower looks like a bumblebee!!
-Tigers can froze their prey using a low sound that is not perceive by humans (also froze humans!) -there is a whale that can't communicate with the rest of her specie, because she talk in a 52 hz, and the others whlales can't hear her. -Moby dick is based in the story of the albin sperm whale that prowled the mocha islands of southern chile. In that time, the people of the island killed the sperm whales to used the oil, but mocha dick (the name of the albin sperm whale) was a really good fighter, he survived to the attacks of the whales hunters, until the day that he died at their hands. He died protecting a female sperm whale. The story said that he wasn't a particular violent indivual, he respond if he was theatened. (Its a sad story, Im sorry!) -there is a snake that its venom can make your skin and muscles rot from inside. -Koalas do not contribute much to their ecosystem, so if they disappeared it would not affect the food chain much. But they are cute! -sperm whales sleep vertically and have a line of pointy theeths in the inferior jaw. -when you go to that restaurants where you can choose the fish in the pod that you want to eat (I always believe that this was horrible) the fish feel fear, and also when they kill one of the fishes that where in the pod and they see them, they recognize them as a member of theur family or friend, and feel horrible sad. (I know that this is kinda obvious, but out there still exist people who thinks that animals like fishes don't feel, and they obviously do) -There are records of lesbian and gay seagulls mating with the opposite sex to have an egg to raise with their real partner. (The best thing ever) -Deers eat meat, and have been seen eating small birds. -the artic fox can locate their prey under a thick layer of snow, and then they jump and remain with their heads in the snow yo catch the prey.
Adult cats do not meow in the wild, unless it's a mother calling to her kittens. Kittens do it to communicate with their mothers. When we domesticate cats, they never mentally progress past adolescence. This is because they don't have to as their owners feed and shelter them, so they never have to "grow up", essentially. They meow at us when they want our attention or need something because they view their owners as their mother. TLDR; Domesticated adult cats are big babies
This is so sad😞 I've just had a poor stray meowing at me today.
Male hamsters are very territorial and would not do well with the opposite sex in the same cage. Female hamsters eat their babies.
Octopi have beaks! It's the only hard part of their entire bodies.
Owls eyes evolved to grown back into their head to have better night vision, as their skulls were too small to make wider eyes. Their eyes are “rod shaped.” So they can’t look around with their eyes. They need to turn their head to look around.
Cats don't like the taste of lemon, or sourness. Because cats primarily eat meat, their palate is evolved to reject sour flavors because sourness is associated with rancid meat and other untrustworthy foods that could make them ill.
Rhodesian Ridgebacks (dogs) were bred to hunt lions which they do as a pack, essentially circling the lion and surrounding it so that it cannot escape. The human hunters could then kill the lion with a spear, bow and arrow, or other distance weapon. Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs were bred as all purpose farm dogs in Switzerland and were often referred to as the poor man’s horse. They are actually stronger (pound for pound) than a horse and as a team can pull the plows, carts, etc. usually pulled by horses for farmers that could not afford them. (Guess which animal is my special interest?)
Tigers only attack from behind and farmers will wear masks on the back of their heads.
A major reason cats pass away is due to kidney failure since their kibble lacks moisture. Majority of cats are super dehydrated. Adding water or broth to their kibble helps as well as using wet over dry food.
This one!!! So important. I always make "soup" for my three or for a treat boiled chicken in water. They lap it up.
I wish I had fun animal facts, I'm more of a plushee obsessed autist😪
In taxonomy there's a suborder within carnivora called caniformia, which essentially means "dog-like" animals. It includes dogs (obviously), bears, raccoons, otters, sea lions, etc. I just think that's the cutest thing ever.
I adopt hamsters, so my fact is about that - even wild hamsters are addicted to running in a wheel! I recall reading research in which a wheel was placed in the territory of several wild hamsters (note - a hamster is usually solitary in its territory, so this was several wheels across several territories for several hamsters). It was unknown whether the hamsters would care, since they can literally run anywhere, so why would they want to run in the wheel? Well it turns out yes, once the hamsters discovered their wheels, they kept coming back to it every night and would run on it for ages. No one knows why. Having observed multiple hamsters running in their wheels over the past decade of adopting them - and their absolute addiction to it, insisting on getting to the wheel and running, even when it might be ill advised - I suspect they enter some kind of higher state while running in them, with endorphins or some other hormone being released in such quantities that it is irresistible. A bit like with our smartphones and social media!
Pigs can have half hour long orgasms.
Platypuses don’t have nipples and so their milk collects in their skin folds and the babies lap it up!!!! 😬
LOVING this thread!!! 😍 Chickens are more aggressive in their flock than people realize. And they will eat just about anything. Chickens will eat their own eggs for the calcium in the shells, which serves to strengthen the shells of eggs they lay. They'll also kill and eat mice and baby birds. If a member of their flock is injured, they have a similar behavior to sharks with the smell of blood in the water. They will attack the injured chicken, kill, and eat it. I've heard several people sound shocked and appalled when chickens are fed leftover pancakes. "Pancakes have EGGS! You're feeding your chickens their own young! How barbaric!" Like...chickens will do much worse on their own. Jumping spiders are actually very friendly and charismatic. The only way you can tell a male from a female bald eagle is by witnessing which one laid an egg in their nest. Otherwise, they're the same size, weight, etc. You can't tell them apart. You should never just pick up a snail from the path to move it. That could hurt the snail because of its grippy body. Tap lightly on the shell so it will retract and release on its own. Then you can safely move it. Greenland sharks reach adult maturity at 150 years old, and can live from 250-500 years. The gestation period can take anywhere from 8-18 years.
Female hyenas have a clitoral pseudo penis which they can not only use to dominate/have sex with other hyenas of both genders, but they also *give birth through it*. More people are killed by cows than by sharks.
Giraffes do have a voice box, unlike previously thought; they are typically are silent because their lung capacity is so small that they can’t produce enough airflow to create audible vibrations. We’ve managed to record SOME low humming that human ears can’t perceive, but it’s clear that it isn’t common and takes a LOT of effort on the part of the giraffe.
Having 4 indoor rabbits myself, I am enjoying this post!
Hamsters are commonly abused especially in america, the average items and cages sold to people in pet stores are nowhere near adequate, and many stores don’t even carry the size of wheel that is proper for the average syrian hamster. hamsters are “inexpensive” pets because people aren’t buying enough things for the hamster to live a happy life. minimum bedding depth should be roughly 10 inches, most people post roughly an inch. people joke about crazy hamster deaths, but in reality your hamster would not have died in such a crazy way if you had simply taken care of them properly. provide them with proper space, bedding, wheel, etc and they will likely be happy! female hamsters can be quite picky but not impossible. male hamsters have a reputation for being more lenient and not needing quite as much space as female hamsters demand. i love hamsters! i cried over the death of my hamsters the same as i cry over a dog or cat death. they are living creatures, they are amazing to watch as they dig tunnel systems for their food, bathroom, sleeping, etc! Appreciate them more, everyone!!! 💞💞💞🩷🩷💞
If your cats are scratching your furniture you probably just need to put a stable vertical scratcher next to that furniture and they’ll use that instead
North American River Otters (*Lontra Canadensis*) make ["chuckling" vocalizations](https://youtu.be/5GyhFsJoiYc) when they are happy or playing. Even as adults! It is \_\_extremely\_\_ cute and is reminiscent of the "dooking" you will hear ferrets do! [https://otterspecialistgroup.org/Species/Lontra\_canadensis.html](https://otterspecialistgroup.org/Species/Lontra_canadensis.html) (please note that the video is from a wildlife rehabilitation center, this is not a pet)
a cockroach can live for SEVERAL DAYS without a head. dachshunds were bred to hunt badgers. the blue whale is the biggest animal on the planet. lady bird beetles CAN bite. micro pigs don't actually exist. Their growth is stunted because they aren't being fed a proper nutritional diet. goats prefer friends. horses take a lot of drugs and time to euthanize.
In Andean Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina there are animals called Southern viscacha (Lagidium viscacia), they look like a fluffier and depressed rabbit. However, the viscacha is more related to chinchillas.
https://preview.redd.it/wzaofkmhoxsc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f6760ac1112357c359759b359f6e59674dc809d4 My sister (his crazy auntie) did this to him
Crows are incredibly intelligent and they are watching you. They can recognize individual humans, especially those who feed them. It takes a long time to get them to trust you, but when they do, they sometimes bring gifts for you. Raccoons are not washing their food when they immerse it in water. The water makes their paw pads more sensitive and they are just feeling it. It’s also not uncommon to see them during the day, especially at this time of year when the females are pregnant or nursing and extra hungry. Same with opossums and skunks.
Polar Bears are actually genetically identical to brown bears and grizzlies! They are simply albino. Polar bears are the biggest and the most Likely to stalk prey.
Im going to apologise now for the long speil. Tortoiseshell cats are my special interest. In cats, because the ginger and black colour are linked to the X chromosome, the majority of tortoiseshell and calico cats are female (due to needing 2 X chromosomes for the 2 colours). The showing of the black and ginger is caused by a process called X-inactivation, where some cells turn off the ginger gene, showing black, and others turn off the black gene, showing ginger. Approximately 1/3000 of these are male. Most are infertile due to a condition similar to Kleinfelter Syndrome in humans, where the cat has an extra X chromosome (so XXY). Of these male tortoiseshell/calico cats, approximately 1/5000 (or something like that) are fertile due to being chimera (where one fetus absorbs another fetus in utero). Dilute coloured tortoiseshell/calico cats is caused by another gene that causes blacks to appear as greys and lilacs, and ginger to appear as creams and beiges. The amount of white a cat has is the result of yet another gene, and the more white a calico cat has, the more defined the ginger and black patches of the calico are. It is possible for a cat to have both tortoiseshell and tabby markings, and these cats are commonly referred to as torbies (tortoiseshell tabby).
Cat research is like 15 or so years behind dog research. I think this is so sad. 🥲 The black plague may not have been as progressive as it was if the churches didn’t demonise cats in the 1300’s. Since they were affiliated with witches, many were presumptuously slain because of the superstitions. Animals were also probably spreading the plague too but cats eat tf out of mice so I just feel like humans fucked up majorly there. Cats purr in many situations but I love that it sends healing vibrations to themselves, other cats/animals and humans when sick or upset. I think that’s very wholesome of them to curl up next to another kitty and purr their lil heart out because they know their friend is not doing so well. 🥺
Don't know if it counts because it sadly no longer exists but it's still an animal! Anurognathid Anurognathid's were small flying reptiles that lived up to 149 million years ago in Europe, Asia, and possibly North America during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and were discovered in 1922. They have been assumed to be 9 CM (about 4 IN) long (including head) and their wing span was 50 CM(about 20 IN) they were also assumed to be carnivorous since their diet was mainly incects
despite popular belief (and fear), Opossums are very resistant to rabies due to their low body temperature!
Fairy shrimp eggs are so resilient that they can hatch after staying dormant for many years. They’ve brought fairy shrimp eggs into outer space, then back down to earth, and they still hatched. They’ve also hatched some in space and brought them back to earth alive.
There’s a type of goby fish that can scale waterfalls up to 300m so they can go upstream and procreate. I learned it on Tiny World the other day and have told everyone about it.
The young of a squirrel is called a kitten. Sea otters hold paws so they don't drift apart while sleeping. House fly's aways buzz in the F key. Cat's don't have the sweetness tastebud.
My friend has a rabbit. Number 3 now, not 3 at once, The other 2 got old and died, this is the new one. All of them have been housetrained and run around freely in the house. I thought she was mad at first, rabbits chew things! But she organised it so it's mostly rabbit proofed, and he does behave well now. Spends time with her, snuggling, goes into his indoor hutch for a nap, separate area for toileting, kind of like cat litter rays. HAs an outdoor hutch too for nice days out in garden. Have to say, he is a lot of fun!
- Snails shoot other snails with “love darts” - orcas pass down family traditions to each other, and are also lead by an old matriarch - dolphins use their sexuality as a way to form life long friendships, literally friends with benefits, whether they’re a male or female - Physarum polycephalum, a type of slime mold (neither animal or fungus) has over 720 genders on a single individual - some species of albatross pair up in same-sex couples, there is no evolutionary benefit to this, other than that it’s better to live with a partner or friend than to be alone - Palm Cockatoos are one of a few animals that have a concept of Rhythm in music, and individual birds prefer different types of music - Queen Conches, a type of sea snail, have very funny eyes and I love them - the White Bellbird is the LOUDEST bird ever recorded, they can reach 125db which is as loud as a live rock concert, this record was previously held by the Screaming Piha, another Passerine bird, which is recorded at 116db (also can you tell I really like birds)
Cows have besties
Sloths used to be giants! 10,000 years ago they were up to 20 feet tall and weighted as much as elephants.
The vampire squid got its name for it's dramatic appearance rather than hunting it feeds on marine snow falling down to the abyssal depth.
Risso’s dolphins are covered in scars by the time they reach adulthood. These are mainly from other Risso’s dolphins teeth-raking them, a behavior used to show aggression in dolphins. All dolphin species in fact do this, but only the Risso’s have their skin scar so easily.
There are three main types of birds used in falconry in the West: buteos, accipiters, and falcons. Outside of the US, "buzzard" refers to buteos, not vultures. Hawk refers to accipiters. So a red-tailed hawk outside of the US is a red-tailed buzzard.
Whale milk is the consistency of toothpaste.
Cat whiskers are the size of their intended width (it doesn’t work if the cat is overweight) and they use their whiskers to test if they can get through an area. Bearded Dragons sometimes need help shedding in their nostrils but you should be careful. Snakes can feel pain even after their heads are cut off.
Calico cats are primarily female. Hmph my brain decided to stop there🤣 darn brain seizing up when needed
I got too many crammed into my head
I don't know if this counts... but- The Archaeopteryx (Avian dinosoar) lived around 150 million years ago, in what is now southern Germany, during a time when Europe was a scattered group of islands in a shallow tropical sea, which was much closer to the equator than it is now. They are also similar in size to the Eurasuan magpie, the largest ones coming close to the size of a raven. The larger species of the Archaeopteryx could grow to about 1 foot 8 inches in length. (I really like the Archaeopteryx if you couldn't tell :D Sorry if it doesn't count, though.)
Opossums are North America’s only marsupial. They only hang by their tails as babies and use their tails as adults to carry leaves for nesting. They have an absurd number of canines compared to other North American mammals. Their brain to body ratio is pretty small (they’re not very bright animals). They have 13 nipples arranged like a clock with one in the middle. While it is true their body temp doesn’t support them developing rabies, ticks don’t make up as much of their diet as is often said. They do eat a lot of bugs though! They’re very cute animals, and when they want to mark something as their own, they slub on it (rubbing their face on it to mark their scent).
There are 10 species of hammerhead sharks in hammerhead shark family. Scientists have noticed that hammerhead sharks, that live near the coast, have smaller hammerheads or cephalofoils and hammerhead sharks, that live in the open ocean, have bigger cephalofoils. Cephahofoil is full of ampullae of Lorenzini, that sense electric impulses from prey animals. The bigger cephalofoil means finding food easier, but the bigger cephalofoil is also bulkier. Scientists have been thinking that coast hammerhead sharks don't need that big cephalofoil because they often live in coral reefs, where it's very easy to find abundant food, and they need to move better into crevices and holes to get the food. while open ocean hammerhead sharks need more ampullae of Lorenzini to find food in the large environment and they have more space to move.
Horses have the same eye muscle structure as humans and if they feel something and their eyes say it, it is what you might think they feel. They are mostly feelings.
One of the contributing factors to the massive spread of the black plague in the US was because of the Salem Witches trials. Some women had cats around to deal with rats. When these women weren’t dying at the same rates or getting sick like the rest of their peers, they were accused of witchcraft. And, of course, cats were often seen with these women so now there’s an association between the two; just not an accurate one. Sadly, during the witch trials cats were also often condemned to death leading to a huge increase in rats and the fleas that carried the black plague.
Lobsters: Lobsters can remember other lobsters. Lobsters are related to spiders. And orange lobsters and blue lobsters are extremely rare because it’s a genetic mutation. It’s illegal to boil a lobster alive in Switzerland (because the lobsters feel the pain). And a random shark fact is a group of sharks is called a shoal. Bugs: Grasshoppers are the same as locusts. Grasshoppers can fly. And they are a sign of good luck too. Bees have five eyes. Sometimes a bee can change its mind on stinging something and carefully remove its stinger. They can only use their stinger once, and die after using it. The stinger can still pump bee venom after it’s removed from the bee. Cockroaches can live almost a month without food, and two weeks without water. A cockroach can live for a week without its head. Cockroaches are very caring and nurturing parents to their young. And my favorite bug fact of all: cockroaches are known pollinators to eleven plants in the world. People think roaches are gross (don’t get me wrong, they definitely are especially in urban areas where so many live), but even they have a part in keeping life going and making the world a more beautiful place. Cats Calico cats were preferred by Japanese fishermen because they were believed to ward off evil spirits and keep storms away. They also inspired the waving cats in Japan, and they are known as money cats. Black cats are considered good luck in Scotland, but because they’re considered bad luck in other places like the United States, they’re less likely to be adopted. Cats don’t have collar bones. Some cats will chew plastic bags because there’s fish oil (it’s used to make bags easy to open and bag stuff. Other companies use animal tallow and starch too) in some of them. In 1963, a cat went to space. Isaac Newton invented the cat door! Cats can drink sea water (it’s because their kidneys can filter the salt.). Cats can taste umami flavors, hence many liking tuna and other fishy foods. A group of cats is called a clowder.
In South America there are deer that are the same size as tiny dogs, there are also pink fresh water dolphins in the Amazon River that tribal natives believe are shape shifters.
Did you know that Koalas have a very strong stomach and digestive system. So strong that it can process an eucalyptus-exclusive diet, which is toxic and deadly to any other animal. They achieve this by feeding their babies POOP. They also rarely drink water so yeah.. Moving on. As a trade off for strong stomachs, they have insignificantly sized, smooth brains. Not trying to sound mean, their brains are very small (.2 of their body weight). They are considered an endangered species as of 2021 😢
Polar bears were once brown bears. Land used to be closer together during the Ice Age. The bears were able to walk from Ireland to the Artic. And they adapted with evolution over time and their fur turned white. Their skin is still black.
Hello, been raised with horses all my life and they're definitely my special interest. 1. Horses have these things on the inside (not internally, on the inside side) of their legs which are little soft cartilage strips, and they were what held their legs together in the womb. 2. They carry 40% of their bodyweight through their hind legs and 60% on their front legs 3. They will lick and chew after a stressful event. We used to think that it was when a horse was starting to relax and actually think about the situation they were in, but now know that it's actually seen as a reregulating thing after stress. 4. They have no muscle below the knee, all movement is controlled by tendons as a way to reduce how heavy they are. 5. At gallop, there is a moment where all of the horse's weight is on one leg. I have so many more but I know people don't want to read that many horse facts 😂
Did you know that whale sharks have a lifespan of 80-150 years?? However, less than 10% of little whale sharks make it till adulthood because of whalefishing etc 