47 Amazing Facts about Animals You Probably Don’t Know

You might be well aware about the biodiversity of earth, but there are some amazing facts about animals that are still unrevealed to humans. From animals who love getting tipsy to the creatures that are capable of using tools, here are the some interesting facts you would wish you knew earlier.

Amazing Facts about Animals

1. Slow lorises are considered as venomous primates

You might find slow lorises cute little creatures, but their bite can be killing. As per the reports by Popular Science, the adorable lorises secrete poisonous elements from a gland in their arms’ crook. If they bite, it can cause anaphylactic shock that can even kill humans. So be careful when you come across one. Tough it’s rare.

2. Pigeons are good in Math

Humans often think pigeons to be the less smart animals, but that is not true! To your surprise, pigeons are intelligent in math. A study of 2011 published in Science journal revealed that birds like pigeons have the ability to do math, same as monkeys. During that study, pigeons exposed to nine images, each one having a different number of objects. Researchers reported that these birds were capable to rank these images in order the number of objects it had. What was the inference? Pigeons can count!

3. The black and white stripes of Zebra are much of a natural bug repellent

As per a study conducted in 2012 and published in Journal of Experimental Biology, the black and white stripes of Zebras could suppose to have an evolutionary feature of fending off harmful horsefly bites. The researchers concluded that the zebra species of horse attract fewer horseflies than the homogeneous brown, black, white or grey equivalents.

4. Wild chimps enjoy drinking

Yes. Drinks are not just liked by humans, but also chimps! In 2015, a study was published in a Royal Society Open Science journal, which revealed that wild chimpanzees of Guinea were fond of drinking fermented palm sap and going tipsy over it.

5. Sea otters are smart at using tools

While many of us believe that the revelation of dolphins being adept at using tools was something new, a study published in the Biology Letters of 2017 suggested other way. It inferred that sea otters had been doing this since years! They regularly use rocks to attack well-armored prey like snails.

6. Frogs can freeze and still not die

Imagine if you could just freeze to solid without tolerating the cold. As per the professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, Kenneth Storey, frogs go through regular freeze-thaw cycles. Storey told National Geographic, “We have false springs here all the time where it gets really warm and all the snow melts and then suddenly—bam—the wind comes from the north and it’s back down to minus 10, minus 15 [Celsius], and they’re fine”.

7. Male horses have more teeth than female horses

Male horses have 40-42 permanent teeth and to the contrary, the female horses only have 36-40 permanent teeth. Following the study at VCA Animal Hospital, the main purpose of their extra teen was fighting weaponry.

8. Koalas sleep for around 22 hours in a day

If you think your cat sleeps a lot in a day, you will be no more surprised about it when you know koalas can do that for around 22 hours! Australian Koala Foundation found that the cute creatures sleep for 18-22 hours a day. The diet of koalas needs lots of energy to digest and so such longer nap time for these animals.

9. A group of ferrets is known as business

No, this ‘business’ doesn’t mean they are professionals, but it is just a modernized version of ‘busyness’. It is a word originally created to describe a group of ferrets, the weasel-like mammals.

10. Octopuses have the ability to taste with their arms

Weird, but true. No, it is not called tentacles. As per Library of Congress, octopuses can taste and hold with the suckers on the arms. What’s more fascinating? They can move with a speed of almost 25 miles in a hour.

11. Dolphins name each other

We all know how smart dolphins are, but did you have any idea that they have got names for each other? In a study of 2013 published in Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, it was unveiled that bottlenose dolphins create unique whistles to reach out to each other.

12. Reindeer eyes change its color to blue in winter

Reindeers look more beautiful with their blue eyes in winter. To believe the reports by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the color of Arctic reindeer’s eyes change to blue in winter. It changes its color from gold to blue through the change in seasons. They are capable to adapt to the severe changes of the levels of light. The change in color of their eye is adjusted with the way light reflects through their retina, improving their vision.

13. Giraffes have black tongues

According to the reports of several scientists, giraffes have black tongues to protect it from sunburns while eating. Their tongue is almost 20 inches long to be able to eat easily.

14. Alligators allow manatees to swim ahead of them

When there’s rush under waters, alligators oblige to manatees when they move ahead of them. They are obedient swimmers.

15. Sloth can take almost a month to digest one leaf

These sleepy mammals are slow in everything. Most of them experience bowel movements only once in a week and it takes them over 30 days to digest just one leaf. Comparing it with the digestive system of humans, it takes around 12 to 48 hours for an average human to ingest, digest and let out the waste from food.

16. Adult cats meow only at humans

If you are fond of cats, you must know that the animal likes talking to its human friends, but have you ever seen one meowing at other cats or animals? No, they don’t. Kittens meow at their mothers and other humans while adult acts only meow at humans.

17. Elephants and humans adapt same relaxing techniques

If you ever see an elephant calf, you will notice that they suck their trunks to get comfortable in their space. Much similar like human babies, right?

18. Female bats give birth to baby bats that are one-third of their own weight

As per the Bat Conservation International, bats can give birth to pups that weigh almost 1/3rd of the mother’s weight. If you feel that to be normal, imagine a human giving birth to a 40 pounds child.

19. Painted turtles breathe through their butts to survive winters

Not all the animals look for hibernation during winters or move to warmer area to get away from the cold. That said, it is important for these animals to survive cold and painted turtles are one such creature that adapts to frozen ponds. Frozen ponds limit their breathing as there’s no access to the air above the pond. So, they use their butt to breathe. Yes, they use cloacal respiration process t breathe under frozen waters. It is the process of breathing through cloaca, the all-purpose orifice, which allows turtles to breathe from the water around them.

20. Dogs have very less taste buds as compared to humans

You might see your dog having dinner at the same time as you but that doesn’t say anything about them having the same taste bud arrangement. While humans have got 9000 taste buds, dogs are born with only 1700. And as they cannot identify the main four taste sensations like we do, they are not very fond of salt.

21. Otters have the thickest fur in the world

Not many know, but otters have almost one million hairs every square inch. The creature’s fur have got two layers and are developed in a way that a layer of air is trapped right under their skin to ensure it doesn’t get wet.

22. Alligators grow up to 30 years

According to a study published in Copeia in the year 2018, alligators attain full growth up to 30-33 years of age.

23. A group of owls are named as parliament

We don’t know their legislative powers yet, but when they are together, it is called a parliament.

24. Snow leopards do not roar

It might sound as weird s you could imagine, but snow leopards do-not have fully-developed vocal cords like other large cats, which suggests they don’t make the roaring sound, rather create a purr-like sound known a chuff. In a 2010 study report taken from the Biological Journal of Linnean Society, scientists noticed that some cats make a high-pitched meow while others don’t. It was found that not the size, but the habitat of these species determines their sound.

25. Axolotls are capable of regeneration

Axolotls, the salamanders are the only kind of vertebrates that is able to replace their tail, jaws, spine and skin at any age. On the other side, humans can regenerate lost fingertips, limb buds as embryos, but only as young children.

26. A group of rhino is named a crash

When you see a group of rhinos, called it a crash. However, male rhinos are popularly known as bulls while female rhinos as cows.

27. Squirrels adopt orphans

According to a research conducted at the University of Guelph in 2010, squirrels adopt the orphaned babies of the late family members. These animals are believed to have a great motherly instinct.

28. Cows make best friends

Like humans, cows also maintain strong social ties. In a study carried out by researchers of University of Northampton, it was inferred that when cows were taken away from their best friends, their heart rates jumped higher showing a sign of stress and anxiety.

29. Giant anteaters have got 2-foot tongues

As per the revelations by National Geographic, anteaters have the longest tongues amongst all the known mammals, almost a length of 2-foot.

30. Moths fall for love at first sight

When a male moth gets a whiff of a female moth around, it travels miles to track her from her scent. Experts at Audobon reported in their study that without knowing how the female sounds or looks like, the male moth would reach her only from her seductive smell.

31. Horses can make different facial expressions

If you think we humans have got all the abilities to make different facial expressions, you got to see a horse for hours at the stable. Horses can actually have 17 distinct facial expressions, which is only 10 less than humans and 3 more than chimpanzees. It was declared in a study published in PLOS One in 2015.

32. Deer runs at a speed of 35 miles/hour

We know deer are fast runners but did you have any idea of their average speed? It is around 35 miles per hour! If you think that’s the fastest, reindeer got a speed of 50miles/hour.

33. An octopus lives with three hearts

Octopuses have 2 more hearts than humans. All three hearts involve in different function. While two pump blood to the gills, the third one helps in blood flow to the entire body. If this wasn’t as surprising, think about an animal having nine brains!

34. Some worms jump

There are specific species of Amunthas worm that are able to jump and get detached to their tails when troubled. This was recently found in the Midwestern United States.

35. Crocodiles can reach the age of 100

Nile crocodiles are known to live for a century. If you think that’s not a trouble for us humans, almost 200 people die each year from attacks of Nile crocodiles. They can cause a lot of harm than we can imagine.

36. Rats laugh

Well, it is not confirmed that they possess the ability of humor, but rats are found making laugh-like sound when tickled.

37. Cats can identify their own name but doesn’t wish to respond

To all the cat owners reading this, your cat ignores you on purpose when you call their name and they don’t respond. In 2019, a study was published in the Scientific Reports, where researchers found that cats can actually distinguish between names, but don’t feel too obliged to respond to their owners.

38. Cows can produce more milk while listening to slow music

We are not joking! Call it their moo-d or ability, researchers conducted a study at the University of Leicester School of Psychology and found that cows while listening to slow music, produced almost 1.54 pints extra milk every day. It was a 3 percent increase from the normal amount.

39. Butterflies have got taste buds in their feet

No matter how crazy it may sound, but it’s true that butterflies taste from their feet. They have receptors on their legs that are almost 200 times stronger than our taste buds. As soon as a butterfly lands on a plant, it starts using its sensors to identify if it is an edible thing or not.

40. Moths experience love at first scent

As soon as a male moth gets hint of a whiff from a female moth, he travels miles looking for her, following her scent. As per experts of Audobon, “they don’t know what the female sounds like, or even what she looks like. But when they smell her, do they know it and they use her seductive musk to track her down.”

41. Sperm whales of the Caribbean possess an accent

Like you know about humans from the different areas of the world having an inflection, patterns and fluctuations in the way they speak, whales also have an accent. Yes, that’s true! Researchers at Dalhousie University of Canada and UK’s University of St. Andrews claim to have got the evidence that show sperm whales in the Caribbean possess a different accent as compared to whales in other regions of the world.

42. Koalas sleep for almost 22 hours in a day

If you only know about your sleepy cat, you have little information about sleepy animals. Koalas, the cute creatures sleep from 18-22 hours in a day. As per the reports of the Australian Koala Foundation, Koalas have a diet that requires them to have a large amount of energy for digestion, which is why they need to sleep for long hours.

43. Humpback whales use bubbles for hunting

Most people think that the giant size of the whales is all they need to hunt in the open waters, but they actually form a team for the deed. They use the ‘bubble-net’ technology to catch preys. Science News reports say, “Sometimes, the whales will swim in an upward spiral and blow bubbles underwater, creating a circular ‘net’ of bubbles that makes it harder for fish to escape.”

44. Cowbirds make use of secret passwords to educate their young ones

Cowbirds have a tendency to lay eggs in other birds’ nest, so it becomes important for the young ones to learn about their roots eventually. And when the time is right, the little birds bring into use the technique of figuring out who can be the right teacher. According to the research by Science Daily, “Juvenile cowbirds readily recognize and affiliate with other cowbirds. That’s because they have a secret handshake or password.” To be precise, they use a particular chatter call to alert each other

45. Some sharks glow in dark

Sharks show some terrifying and enviable features, such as their sleek body and sharp teeth. You might think it absurd when hearing about the ‘glow-in-the-dark’ sharks, but the fact is completely true. Yes, it is not a sci-fi film. As per the study by iScience, some sharks species glow in the dark and the amazing thing about this is that only other sharks can see it. According CNN reports, Scientists have finally discovered that “previously unknown small-molecule metabolites are the cause of the green glow.” Glowing helps the species recognize each other and even fight against a microbial infection.

46. Capuchin monkeys wash their feet and hands with urine

As weird as it may sound, the Capuchin species of monkeys do this darn gross action. They urinate on their feet and hands while feeding ‘randy’. Kimran Miller, a primatologist told NBC News, “We think the alpha males might use urine-washing to convey warm, fuzzy feelings to females, that their solicitation is working and that there’s no need to run away.”

To sum up

Animals are smarter than humans in many ways, but we are not aware of their wonderful facts. We hope these amazing facts about animals helped you understand them better.

Tagged: amazing facts about animals, facts you didn't know about animals