Even if you're not a huge fan of animals in real life, you have to admit that there's always something new we can learn about them. Even if you spent every weekend of your childhood watching wildlife documentaries, there are probably some things about the animal kingdom that can surprise you.
We've collected the most interesting and adorable facts about animals that folks have shared on Quora over the years—from friendships between tarantulas and frogs, why quokkas are endangered, why chow chows don't have pink tongues, to the fact that sea otters hold hands while they sleep so they don't drift away.
Do you need a pick-me-up in the form of cute animals? Scroll down and "aww" at the cutest things that these patooties from the animal kingdom do!
#1
Elephants brains show the same reactions when they see humans, as when humans see puppies and kittens. Elephants think humans are cute.
Image credits: Josh Breshears
#2
Sea otters hold hands while sleeping so that they don’t drift away in the swirling sea from their group.
Image credits: Ayush Kamboj
#3
Last picture of Hachiko, the faithful dog who waited for over 9 years outside Shibuya station for his master to return even after he had died.
Image credits: Dr Geeta Somnatha Kaimal
Just as there are many adorable facts about animals, there probably are just as many hyped-up myths that are not entirely true. There are many things about animals that people have misinterpreted over the years, so, let's go through some of them and debunk them!
Since childhood, everyone kept telling me that bats couldn't see. The consensus was that they are blind, but that's totally untrue, it turns out! "Blind as a bat" is only a witty saying, as most bats have functional eyes and can see pretty well. This misconception probably formed because of their acute hearing. Bats use echolocation to find prey in dim environments, but they are certainly not blind.
#4
Ravens have the ability to mimic things just like parrots. They’re actually considered one of the world’s smartest species of birds. Ravens have been observed mimicking other sounds such as car alarms, wolf howls, flushing toilets, and clever individuals who’ve taught them to recite Edgar Allen Poe.
Image credits: Caroline Kelley
#5
Squirrels adopt other squirrels’ babies if they are abandoned.
Image credits: Ayush Kamboj
#6
Like humans, cows have best friends too with whom they like to hang out more often. And studies have revealed that they get stressed when they get separated from their besties.
Image credits: Ayush Kamboj
Has anyone ever warned you not to touch a baby bird because then his mother would no longer accept him as hers? Birds don't have such strong smell receptors to notice human scent, but disturbing baby birds and their nests still shouldn't become a hobby. The warbler, for example, has no sense of smell, so they can't really detect your scent at all.
But what if you come across a baby bird on the grass who's fallen off his nest? Educator Elizabeth Manning writes that it's best to leave as quickly as possible. Humans can pass diseases to wildlife, and vice versa. "In most cases, the parents are nearby and may be waiting for you to leave the area," Manning claims.
#7
Crows and ravens troll other birds by pulling on their tail feathers. While some have proposed that this is a tactic to distract larger birds and steal their food, it does seem that, overall, they just do it for fun.
Image credits: Nathaniel Rice
#8
While they have the reputation of being loathsome, disgusting, trash-eaters, black vultures are actually the “barbers” of the bird world. They are known to groom other birds who visit their roosts - as it turns out, their highly-dextrous beaks are not just good for picking apart carcasses, but also for finagling parasites and debris out of hard-to-reach areas.
Image credits: Nathaniel Rice
#9
Prairie dogs greet each other by kissing. This behavior allows them to know who their family members are and helps them to avoid interactions with strangers.
Image credits: Ayush Kamboj
Here's another myth about wildlife for you: ostriches only bury their heads in the sand in children's books. Because they have relatively small heads, it only seems that they put their noggins under the dirt. In reality, when an ostrich is scared, he or she will flop to the ground and remain still to blend in with the environment. Ostriches only dig into the sand to turn the eggs in their nests.
#10
When a male penguin falls in love with a female, he searches the whole beach to find her the smoothest, most perfect pebble to present her as a proposal (if she approves, she puts the stone in her nest).
#11
New born pandas are no heavier than a cup of tea
Image credits: Jo Mburu
#12
Baby elephants suck their trunks for comfort alike young children and babies who suck their thumb for comfort.
Image credits: Ayush Kamboj
When British pilots who came back from the Falkland War in 1982 claimed that they saw penguins topple over while looking at planes, the world really took it to heart and spread the myth like wildfire. Sure, the image is quite comical, but it's not true. In 2001, scientist Richard Stone spent five weeks observing the king penguins in the Antarctic and said that "not a single bird fell over after 17 flights."
"Some birds waddled away from the helicopters. Others became quiet. A few minutes later, they waddled back."
#13
Quokkas, often called "the world's happiest animals," have a natural smile that makes them look friendly and approachable. They are found on some islands off the coast of Australia and are known for their curious nature.
Image credits: Assistant
#14
Animal behaviorists have concluded that cats don't meow as a way to communicate with each other. It's a method they use for getting attention from humans.
#15
A study in 2012 found that when chickens listen to music, they produce more eggs than those who don’t listen to music.
Image credits: Prinkal Middha
Opossums are adorable little critters who, according to some, sleep hanging from their tails. But, despite them impressively using their tails as a fifth limb to climb trees and other structures, the tails aren't strong enough to support their weights.
#16
Male pups will intentionally let female pups "win" when they play-fight so they can get to know them better.
Image credits: Justin Jones
#17
An Elephant can stop the birth of the baby until conditions become optimum .
Image credits: The Love of Wildlife
#18
As we as being a famous Looney Tunes character, the Tasmanian Devil is a real animal that is only found in the wild in Tasmania, Australia. It is the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world.
Image credits: Akhilesh K
Have you ever used the insult "You have a memory of a goldfish" against a forgetful person? If you did, it wasn't really accurate. Although many people believe that the memory of a goldfish spans three seconds, its memory can actually span several months. In fact, goldfish are much smarter than we might think. Scientists have even taught them to recognizehuman faces and drive a makeshift robotic car.
#19
Chickens will come say goodbye to each other when one is dying and they do soft clicks and will then leave and that chicken will normally die alone.
Image credits: V Gutierrez
#20
The coat of a giraffe provides a clue to their age. Instead of graying, ageing giraffes' fur turns black.
Image credits: Jo Mburu
#21
Ants can form a giant ball to float during storms. The ants on the bottom will often survive too. They’ll either have an air pocket, or the ball of ants will rotate so that everyone gets a turn breathing.
Image credits: Sean Kernan
If you thought that camels store water in their humps, you'd be wrong yet again. Their humps, in fact, contain fat. It is true, however, that they can go significantly long periods without drinking. At any one time, they can drink up to 20 gallons of water, and they store it all in their bloodstream. And what's the fat for? The camel uses it for sustenance when there's no food available. When they haven't eaten for a long time, their humps will go limp and droop down.
#22
The animal world may often seem brutally violent, and in truth, that’s because it is. However, that doesn’t mean there can’t be heartwarming moments in nature. Take, for example, the “friendship” between huge tarantulas and tiny frogs.
For unknown reasons, this partnership has independently sprung up several times across the world. From the Amazon Rainforest to India, giant spiders have teamed up with narrow-mouthed frogs, or microhylids.
It was originally thought that this was an example of commensalism: the amphibian hangs around the arachnid for protection (snakes and lizards steer clear of the dangerous tarantulas), but the latter merely tolerates its presence, rather than enjoying any benefits itself. After all, microhylid frogs are highly poisonous, so the spiders couldn’t eat them even if they wanted to.
However, it appears that the relationship is more complex; that the benefit is mutual. The little froglets hoover up any ants which might attack the tarantula’s eggs, and, since ants are far too small and agile for the giant arthropods to combat, this is very helpful. Evidence suggests the spiders can even distinguish partner frogs from others via chemical signals. So, the amphibian’s love is not unrequited: the two creatures provide advantages to each other.
Image credits: Gary Meaney
#23
Seahorses are the slowest fish in the sea. They can only swim at 0.01 MPH.
Image credits: Jo Mburu
#24
The world's most expensive cheese is made from donkey's milk.
Image credits: Dr Geeta Somnatha Kaimal
If you're afraid to touch a frog or a toad, somebody at some point probably told you that you'll get warts if you do. However, that's not true. You can touch any amphibian you want and you won't get any warts on your hands from that. Toads and frogs do have wart-looking bumps on them, but they're glands that don't actually secrete anything, so you're safe.
#25
The strike of an eagle can be 2x stronger than a rifle shot.
Image credits: Shinousuke Nohara
#26
A snail can sleep for straight three years.
Image credits: Shinousuke Nohara
#27
Just as no two fingerprints are alike for humans, not two nose prints are alike for dogs.
Image credits: Jo Mburu
Our last animal myth has to do with man's best friend, the dog. Many people think that dogs are color-blind and can't enjoy life in all its technicolor, but that's not entirely true. Dogs are very good at distinguishing between shades of blues, yellows, whites, and grays, so, they don't see the world in black and white. They have more trouble with reds and greens, though. So, the next time you're buying a toy for your doggo, maybe opt for a blue or a yellow toy so they can see it better.
#28
Wombats have cube-shaped poop. They mark their territories by defecating, and it's thought that the shape of their poop keeps it from rolling away. Special bones in their backsides allow them to squeeze and form their feces into cubes.
Image credits: Suganya Samy
#29
Studies have shown that wild chimps in Guinea drink fermented palm sap, which contains about 3 percent alcohol by volume.
Image credits: Shailendra Singh
#30
Beaver’s teeth are orange in color as the teeth contain Iron-rich outer enamel which gives strength to their teeth.
Which of these facts surprised you the most, Pandas? Which did you know already? Share your adorable facts about the animal kingdom in the comments below! And if you want to learn more wholesome things about wildlife, check out a similar article we previously did here!
#31
Kittens purr not just when they are happy, but also when they are frightened or in pain. This purring can have a calming effect on themselves and even promote healing.
#32
Platypuses swim with their eyes closed!
Image credits: Shinousuke Nohara
#33
Baby shrews travel in conga lines.
When a mother shrew wants to take her babies places, one will carry her tail in its mouth, then its sibling will do the same to it, and so on. These “caravans” can comprise up to 7 or 8 shrews.
Another cool fact about shrews is that their brains shrink by 15% in the winter, so they can survive the food-scarce winter.
#34
Jumping spiders are very curious little creatures so if one never saw a human before very likely it will come closer to investigate you and often times jump on you without you knowing it and they can also recognise their owners when kept as pets.
#35
Hummingbirds are the smallest birds in the world, its the only species of the birds which can fly backwards.
#36
Male emperor penguins can go months without eating to protect their young.
#37
Sand cats are tiny wild cats native to deserts that look like kittens.
#38
Flamingos are naturally white—their diet of brine shrimp and algae turns them pink.
#39
Boxer crabs/pom pom crabs keep sea anemones on their claws in a mutualistic symbiotic relationship
Image credits: Georgia Bence
#40
One way you can tell the gender of turtles is by the sound they make. Male turtles grunt, while female turtles hiss.
#41
Like other marsupials, wombats give birth to a tiny, underdeveloped baby that crawls into its mother's pouch to grow and develop further. But wombats' pouches have a special difference — they are positioned backwards, opening toward the mother's rear rather than her head. This allows her to dig without getting dirt in her pouch.
#42
Dolphins have unique signature whistles that they use to identify and call out to each other, much like humans use names.
#43
A group of frogs is called an army.
Image credits: Prinkal Middha
#44
Trained pigeons can tell the difference between the paintings of Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet.
Image credits: Shailendra Singh
#45
Horses can sleep by both standing and sitting
Image credits: Shinousuke Nohara
#46
One of the wombat's primary defenses is its toughened backside, which is mostly made of cartilage. When threatened, a wombat dives headfirst into a tunnel, blocking the entrance with its rump. This sturdy rump, and lack of a significant tail, make it difficult for a predator to grab on.
#47
Dragonflies and damselflies form a heart with their tails when they mate.
#48
Lobster has teeth in its stomach.
Image credits: Suganya Samy
#49
Certain species of Tarantulas dance after being fed
#50
For every human in the world, there are one million ants.
Image credits: Justin Jones
