Interesting Animal Facts.

[Ansela Jonla]

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

Wrong. I have a staffie-cross and she managed to get herself some spectacular sunburns last summer. Silly beastie decided to lie on her back in the most unshaded part of the garden for a few hours.

 

A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a mare.

A hinny is the offspring of a stallion and a female donkey.

A liger is the offspring of a lion and a tigress.

A tigon is the offspring of a tiger and a lioness.

A Rusian zoo bred a "liliger", the offspring of a lion and a female liger.

Female hybrids are more likely to be fertile than male ones, although it is still rare.

Edited January 20, 2014 by Ansela Jonla

[Aprilis]

Studies are showing that the traditional view of wolf packs, where unrelated wolves live in groups and fight for the position of alpha, is incorrect. Wolf packs are simply a family unit of wolves made up of siblings which are lead by their parents, not alphas who fought for their position.

 

Individual parrots and crows have unique calls that act as names, which are used by other group members to refer only to that individual. Some parrots even name their chicks at birth, and as the chick grows older, it will tweak and personalize the name to its liking.

 

The only armadillo that curls into a ball is the three-banded armadillo.

[Kojayo]

Snow leopards can jump (vertically) up to 30 ft in the air and leap (horizontally) up to 50 ft.

 

[PiccoloRose]

Armadillos are part of the Dasypodidae family, which is the only surviving family in the order Cingulata.

 

They also can transmit leprosy to humans. Armadillos contract the disease systemically because of their unusually low body temperature, and can spread it to humans by the humans handling them, consuming their meat, or by handling products made from them (belts, shoes, purses....).

 

It is believed that armadillos first contracted leprosy from humans - after European explorers and settlers came to the New World in the late 15th Century.

[HawktalonOfRiverClan]

I tried to explain the infertileness of calico cats to my older brother, who began asking the most ridiculous questions! (So, what if the cat is actually brown, white, and white, not a turtle?)

That only applies to true calicos. What makes a calico a calico is the presence of both black and orange genes. Brown has nothing to do with it (brown x white bicolored is a registered coloration for many breeds anyways). A brown bicolored male would not be sterile.

[Ansela Jonla]

There is a hidden big cat sanctuary/breeding project on the outskirts of London, England, that has 5 male and 6 female clouded leopards within its ranks.

[Brite]

I've heard from someone on here that rabbits can carry a horse fetus for a small amount of time.

[grimace]

Weird funfact of the day: Birds are technically reptiles.

[wraitheon1]

The tufts on the tip of a lions tail are claimed by professionals to be be remains of a disguise used to hide tail 'claws' from the lions ancestors

[RWyvern]

The tufts on the tip of a lions tail are claimed by professionals to be be remains of a disguise used to hide tail 'claws' from the lions ancestors

O-o I've never heard of that. Intriguing. Source?

 

Zyzzyva is the last word in the English dictionary. It's the name of a species of weevil.

 

Edit: Spelling bleh.

Edited January 22, 2014 by rampaging wyvern

[grimace]

The tufts on the tip of a lions tail are claimed by professionals to be be remains of a disguise used to hide tail 'claws' from the lions ancestors

Thats not true at all, lions never had a claw at the end of their tail. Something like that wouldn't even have had a use, and if anything would just get ripped off after it snagged on whatever.

[pudding]

Weird funfact of the day: Birds are technically reptiles.

False. Our current system of organization decrees that birds are not reptiles.

Crocodiles, however, are more closely related to birds than lizards.

 

Humans share about half of their DNA with bananas.

[whitebaron]

Thats not true at all, lions never had a claw at the end of their tail. Something like that wouldn't even have had a use, and if anything would just get ripped off after it snagged on whatever.

For hunting, no, but for fighting or mating they could work.

 

However, this is indeed nonsensical, as almost all predators display their weapons freely. Its likely to have similar functions like human head hair.

[Coorinna]

Actually, wraitheon1's statement does have some truth to it. It's not technically a 'claw' but the fur on the end of the tail covers a small 'spine' formed of fused vertebrae. So it's not entirely incorrect.

 

Anyway, the fluff on the lion's tail is probably used for communication when hunting, much the same as in other big cats.

 

 

Wow, this is my first post in a long while. I need to use the forums more, hehe.

[sbowen]

People probably already know this, but.......

Bird beaks are made out of the same thing as human fingernails.

There are only about four to five parrot conservatories in the USA.

Edited January 22, 2014 by sbowen

[grimace]

False. Our current system of organization decrees that birds are not reptiles.

Crocodiles, however, are more closely related to birds than lizards.

 

Humans share about half of their DNA with bananas.

No, out current system of classification is all kinds of broken.

Technically as it is, "reptile" doesn't really mean anything because as it stands birds are technically maniraptors and fall under the giant lump of "reptiles"

[pudding]

No, out current system of classification is all kinds of broken.

Technically as it is, "reptile" doesn't really mean anything because as it stands birds are technically maniraptors and fall under the giant lump of "reptiles"

Again, false. The Class Reptilia contains Chelonia, Squamata, Rhynchocephalia and Crocodylia. Aves is a separate class

 

Moreover, reptiles are distinguished as being cold blooded. Birds are warm blooded. Very big difference there. Birds are not reptiles.

[grimace]

Again, false. The Class Reptilia contains Chelonia, Squamata, Rhynchocephalia and Crocodylia. Aves is a separate class

 

Moreover, reptiles are distinguished as being cold blooded. Birds are warm blooded. Very big difference there. Birds are not reptiles.

http://paleocave.sciencesortof.com/2013/06...irds-dinosaurs/

Heres a decent explanation of it.

I'm not saying birds fit in with "reptiles", but that they technically are due to our classification methods.

The main problem/reason is lumping dinosaurs in as reptiles.

[whitebaron]

Wrong: birds are not reptiles.

True: They are closely related and lumped together under the taxon of sauropsida. (as are dinosaurs)

Edited January 23, 2014 by whitebaron

[Sirikith]

Elephants have Four Knee's

Not to forget that males have theit testicles in the belly, and females the udders between their front legs (I'll spare you the nasty details on their cervix and birthing procedure)

They also can't gallop-there's a few other species that have inwards tesicals and can't gallop either-the male reproductive organs have not been moved to the outside for temperature reasons, but pressure.

 

Hyena clans are matriarchal.The highest ranking male still comes behind the lowest female-and females have such a high testosterone level that it affects their physival appearance-they have a virilized clitoris

 

there's a type of lizards that is able to reproduce partogenetic, that is, without a male to fertilize.

 

Plant louse can do it either way.

 

The mimicry octopus can take on the shape, color, behavior and movement of serveral other sea creatures

 

lantern fish male are very small, very primitive and live as parasites on the females

 

horses can't vomit either

 

Theres one type of preying mantis ( Phyllocrania paradoxa) without enormous gender dimorphism in size between males and females that can actually be kept in groups as long as enough food is provided

 

The largest mantis is Idolomantis Diabolica, these look exactly like the name suggests and here's a picture compared to the size of a human hand

 

 

 

 

 

[InugamiZERO]

ligers are around 2x size of their parents

because male lions have a gene to make their offspring's grow large and female lions have a gene that makes their offspring's normal/small

 

also male hybrids are more likely to be sterile than female hybrids

[Ribombee]

Insects actually only shed the very, very outer layer of their exoskeleton. The rest of it gets dissolved and reused.

[BlitzDrake]

Iguanas can fall from 20 feet and not get hurt

 

The common cobra venom is not on the top 10 most venomous list but their venom is 40x stronger than cyanide

 

 

[Kojayo]

White tigers are often born with birth defects and heath problems, since they are not an actual breed, but a mutation that is bred for visual appeal. In fact, only about 1 in 1000 bengal tigers in the wild are born white, and often struggle since they are robbed of their natural camouflage.

 

"The unusual white colouration of has made them popular in zoos and entertainment showcasing exotic animals. German-American magicians Siegfried & Roy became famous for breeding and training two white tigers for their performances, referring to them as 'royal white tigers,' the white tiger's association with the Maharaja of Rewa."

 

Don't even get me started on the cruelty of circus animals.

[Brite]

ligers are around 2x size of their parents

because male lions have a gene to make their offspring's grow large and female lions have a gene that makes their offspring's normal/small

 

also male hybrids are more likely to be sterile than female hybrids

Ligers also shouldn't be created because the mothers more than likely die giving birth because of the massive size and complication.