Interesting Animal Facts.

[Dragon_Bee]

The Echidna's neocortex(which handles advanced functions, like thought and language) makes up half of their brain, compared to humans where it's only about a third of the brain.

 

Shrike's impale their prey on thorns to store for later consumption.

 

About a quarter of black swan pairs are same-sex.

 

Most bovids are herbivores, one exception being the Duiker. Aside from plant matter, they are also known to scavenge carrion, as well as hunt and kill small animals.

[Odeen]

Horses originally had 5 toes and were about as tall as a fox.

 

An Eohippus is not a horse. It is the ancestor (or at least a close cousin of the ancestor) of the modern Equus genus, but it never was a horse. Saying an Eohippus is a horse is like saying a Pakicetus is a whale, or a Microraptor is a chicken.

 

The only places a horse cannot see are directly in front of it and directly behind it.

 

A horse CAN see directly in front of it, using binocular vision. Normally horses focus their eyes sideways, viewing both sides of their body simultaneously with depthless monocular vision. However, if something passes from the view of one eye across the horse's front, or if they just want to get a better look at something, they can turn their head and focus both eyes forward to view the object with depth-perceiving binocular vision. However, during the brief moment it takes the horse's brain to adjust, the horse cannot make things out very well at all, which means that things moving very quickly (like a predator might) spook them easily.

 

When first born a shrimp is male and then evolves into a female over time.

 

Change that occurs within a single organism is not and should never be called evolution - many species are capable of changing from male to female or female to male based on social or environmental factors, and some are able to switch freely between the two throughout their lives.

 

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The paradise tree snake genus, consisting of 5 species in Asia, can't really fly, but by flattening its body and assuming an 'S' position when leaping out of trees it is able to turn its body into an aerofoil, which allows it to glide exceptionally well. They're actually better at gliding than flying squirrels!

 

The sail-backed dimetrodon, while a popular mascot for dinosaur merchandise everywhere, is not a dinosaur at all. The dimetrodon is actually a transitional organism, one of the earliest synapsids (a clade which includes all extant mammals) in the fossil record. Dimetrodons and synapsids like it from the era are known as "mammal-like reptiles".

 

Growing 30 meters long and weighing up to 170 metric tons, the blue whale is the largest single organism to ever exist on Earth. Period.

 

Humans have 46 chromosomes, while the other great apes (chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans) have 48 chromosomes. The difference arose some time after the evolutionary split between primitive humans and the rest of the great apes, when two smaller chromosomes fused at their ends into a single large chromosome, now known as Chromosome 2. Sequencing of the human and other great ape genomes is so precise, in fact, that scientists are able to pinpoint down to a few base pairs exactly where the two chromosomes fused together.

 

The Platypus and Echidna are the only remaining members of an ancient and primitive clade of mammals known as monotremes, which lay eggs like reptiles rather than giving birth to live young. Also like reptiles, all their 'business' happens through a single opening called a cloaca.

 

[Mtntopview]

Big foot, yeti, and chupacabra ARE real, but no one wants to accept them!

[RWyvern]

A horse CAN see directly in front of it, using binocular vision. Normally horses focus their eyes sideways, viewing both sides of their body simultaneously with depthless monocular vision. However, if something passes from the view of one eye across the horse's front, or if they just want to get a better look at something, they can turn their head and focus both eyes forward to view the object with depth-perceiving binocular vision. However, during the brief moment it takes the horse's brain to adjust, the horse cannot make things out very well at all, which means that things moving very quickly (like a predator might) spook them easily.

I think what they were referring to is the blind spot all ungulates have. Although they can indeed see forwards given a moment, they can't see directly in front of them for a small distance or directly behind, which is why it's a bad idea to approach a horse from directly behind and in front, and the reason most horses prefer to turn their head sideways in order to see you more clearly.

 

 

@ Mtntopview: Where's the proof?

 

Marine Iguanas spit salt from their nose :B

 

Flies may be capable of facial recognition.

 

Animals like dogs, cats and birds can experience many, if not all, basic human emotions, and some, like rats, even experience secondary emotions like jealousy and embarrassment.

Edited March 21, 2013 by rampaging wyvern

[polos1993]

Orangatans are known as the old man of the forest.

[cutiesonic]

rampaging wyvern, when horses are entered a race, the 'masks' (don't know what it's called) they wear help the horse see only forward.

[Nectaris]

This is the alphabet and the numbers up to nine all found naturally on butterfly wings:

 

[The Fluffy Raptor]

Velociraptor was no animal from the movie Jurassic Park. It looked similar

to a bird, including having feathers, was no bigger than a medium dog, and that JP "raptors" were more similar to Deinonychus, though this dinosaur had feathers and such as well.

[georgexu94]

This is the alphabet and the numbers up to nine all found naturally on butterfly wings:

 

So cool!

 

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I think this is a bit old. Anyway,

-Owls can turn their heads almost in a full circle.

-An abatros can sleep while flying

-A honey badger can injure snakes, lions, and ravens, especially when protecting their young. Yes, they are extremely loyal. Clearly, this shows Hufflepuff superiority

-When a horned toad is angry, it squirts blood from its eyes.

 

 

[Riverwillows]

This probably was already said, but ever get freaked out by a large long legged tiny bodied spider the size of a rat?

 

Count the legs. If there are 6 legs total, its not a spider, it's a Daddy Longlegs...a non-spider arachnid also called "harvestmen" that looks like a spider. It is actually good to have around, as it usually sits quietly in its web in small dark spaces, eats bugs and flys. It is not very poisonous, but Urban Legends say it's the most poisonous insect around. This was debunked in Myth Busters. If it ever bit you, all you'd get is a annoying little "bug bite".

 

Daddy Longlegs' can grow up to the size of a cat.

 

Spiders all have 8 legs. The Cellar Spider, which looks similar, IS a true spider, with 8 legs.

[Blear]

Cats don't always land on their feet.

[georgexu94]

-When a giraffe's baby is born it falls from a height of 3 meters, normally without being hurt.

-Cockroaches have a high tolerance to radiation and are the most likely creature to survive a nuclear war. (Eek!)

-Pigs and Humans are the only creatures that get sunburnt.

-a duck's quack cannot echo

[Daydreamer09]

No idea if this is true, but something I stumbled upon.

 

And a lot about the mantis shrimp.

I have new found respect for this animal.

Edited April 28, 2013 by Daydreamer09

[Cori]

-Pigs and Humans are the only creatures that get sunburnt.

That's not true. While it is UNCOMMON for other animals to get burns from the sun, it still happens. Animals with light skin or short fur can get burns from overexposure. Even marine animals can get burnt.

Albino animals are especially vulnerable, and some albino crocodiles in captivity will have sunblock rubbed on their bodies on days when they would be more likely to get a burn.

 

[RWyvern]

-Cockroaches have a high tolerance to radiation and are the most likely creature to survive a nuclear war. (Eek!)

Apparently fruit flies have a higher tolerance and flower beetles have an even higher tolerance x3

[Obscure_Trash]

Thats false my uncle went to the northpole and killed one attacking his exploration team and he brought it to his house and had it stuffed and its still white and his home is a brown colour!

Okay, here's what my limited knowledge has pieced together:

-Polar bears do have black skin

-They have white underfur

-Their guard fur is transparent

-Their fur is a hollow tube and any light refracted by this looks white (why they may look especially bright in sunlight)

 

Or something along those lines.

[Dimar]

-Pigs and Humans are the only creatures that get sunburnt.

I have to put sunscreen on my horse's nose every day in the summer. She burns BADLY, because she has light fur. And at the rescue I volunteer at, a lot of other light-furred horses have the same problem.

[dustpuppy]

-Pigs and Humans are the only creatures that get sunburnt.

I have to put sunscreen on my horse's nose every day in the summer. She burns BADLY, because she has light fur. And at the rescue I volunteer at, a lot of other light-furred horses have the same problem.

 

Cows can get sunburn on their udders, which is doubly bad as it would hurt too much to milk them, but not milking them would make them sick, so they need sunscreen too.

[Riverwillows]

Sock is correct....

 

Polar bears ARE black skinned. Their fur is NOT white, it's colorless, and refracts light of ANY kind, making it look white. I've seen it in dimly lit places, and it looks yellow, due to low light.

 

Also...

 

Most carrion birds are bald or have few plummage on their heads, to prevent bacteria forming when they plunge their heads into corpses to eat.

[Taintedtamer]

ANIMAL FACTS! <3

 

- Certain species of bats can live up to 30 years.

- Insects make up 75% of known organisms on Earth.

- A clownfish can change its gender when it looses its mate.

- Pelicans often eat other birds, especially seagull chicks.

- African Painted Dogs have vocal calls similar to birds.

- Calico cats are always female

- When a dog has just one blue eye, there is a high chance the dog is deaf on the side with the blue eye

- Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur

- Fireflies aren't really a fly at all, but a type of beetle

 

I have more, just can't think of them right now.

[Riverwillows]

Large black scorpions are called Emperor Scorpions, and are not harmful to humans. They look scary and evil due to their size and black color, which is why they are the scorp of choice for movies and commercials, but they at best would give you a small welt, like a bug bite, that would be a bit like a hard pinch. A bandaid and some bactine would take care of it.

 

They are like tarantulas in that respect, and are kept as pets.

 

Its the tiny brown ones that are deadly.

[Taintedtamer]

Large black scorpions are called Emperor Scorpions, and are not harmful to humans. They look scary and evil due to their size and black color, which is why they are the scorp of choice for movies and commercials, but they at best would give you a small welt, like a bug bite, that would be a bit like a hard pinch. A bandaid and some bactine would take care of it.

 

They are like tarantulas in that respect, and are kept as pets.

 

Its the tiny brown ones that are deadly.

Yep - the tinier the scorpion, the more potent it is. The deathstalker and fat-tailed scorpions are two of the deadliest scorpions on the planet.

[Kith]

The fun thing is that calico cats can be male... but only in very special circumstances, so they are rare. The cat in question is pretty much guaranteed to be XXY, as the genes required to produce a calico coat color are located on the X chromosome. Without that second X, a cat can only have white + one other color (though it doesn't have to be solid - white + tabby splotches, for example).

 

I'm not certain, but I believe it's the relative size of the pincers and tail to the body that determines how deadly a scorpion is. Emperors have huge pincers and relatively thin tails, indicating they rely more on the pincers and less on the sting to capture prey; the dangerous ones have small or thin pincers, a larger venom sac, and bulkier tail musculature.

 

As for my own fact... the maleo, an Indonesian bird, uses geothermal energy to hatch its eggs, and the chicks are so developed that they can fly seconds after digging themselves out of their underground nesting area.

[RWyvern]

I'm not certain, but I believe it's the relative size of the pincers and tail to the body that determines how deadly a scorpion is. Emperors have huge pincers and relatively thin tails, indicating they rely more on the pincers and less on the sting to capture prey; the dangerous ones have small or thin pincers, a larger venom sac, and bulkier tail musculature.

That's right. Most scorpions, most commonly rainforest scorpions, rely on crushing power rather than venom, so they have highly developed claws. The rest, commonly desert scorpions, rely on venom and have highly developed stings rather than claws. These are the dangerous ones, as Riverwillows said.

 

 

[Alpha Gryph]

The extra credit question on my zoology final today was "What are the young of echidnas called?"

 

They're called puggles