The lifestyles and peculiarities of most animals are often a lot weirder than we might expect, particularly if your main frame of reference is “a cat goes meow and a dog goes woof.” The natural world is full of wonders and surprises waiting to be discovered.
Someone asked “What is the weirdest animal fact you know?” and wildlife-savvy netizens from around the world answered. So get comfortable, imagine every answer being read in the voice of David Attenborough, and get to scrolling. Be sure to upvote the facts that were most surprising to you and comment your thoughts below.
#1 Slow And Steady Vibes
When a female sloth wants a mate she’ll hang onto a tree branch and just scream.
Image source: Remarkable_Sink2542, Roxanne Minnish
#2 Eight Arms, No Chill
octopus punch other fish for no reason- so, for fun.
Image source: Samanthalynn8915, Serena Repice Lentini
#3 Too Cute to Handle
cats have the mental capacity of a 2 year old which makes a lot of sense
Image source: Alive_Ad823, Peng Louis
#4 Bubble Trouble Ahead
Polar bear fur isn’t white – it’s translucent (for most frequencies of light). And they have black skin underneath.
So polar bear fur lets all the light through to their black skin to warm them – except for a few visible frequencies to keep them camouflaged as white.
Image source: seedanrun, Pixabay
#5 Silent Strolls and Snowfall
Contrary to popular belief, reindeer prefer raisins instead of carrots. So if you want to leave a treat for Santa’s reindeer, leave raisins. I only know this because a friend of mine has a reindeer farm and they will push you for a whole box.
Image source: DaniGeek, Annika Thierfeld
#6 Ocean’s Little Hideout
Argonauts are small octopuses that are too lazy to f**k. They detach their d***s and toss them into the open sea to mate with female argonauts.
Image source: Schwarzes__Loch, Bernd Hofmann
#7 Low-Key But Fierce
Honey badgers can turn their a******s inside out and use the smell to deter attackers. Not sure what exactly has the guts to attack a honey badger, but if they have the courage to do so, the badger sure as hell isn’t gonna make it easy.
Image source: nonexistantauthor, Sumeet Moghe
#8 Ocean’s Best Comedians
Dolphins will intentionally use puffer fish to get high.
Image source: altkaldra, HAMID ELBAZ
#9 Deep Sea Acrobatics
The Blanket Octopus exhibits the highest degree of sexual dimorphism known. Females: About 6 feet across. Males: About one inch.
Image source: Fabulous-Pause4154, Isabel Galvez
#10 Master of the Side Eye
An ostrich’s eye is bigger than it’s brain
Image source: DMD612, Adriaan Greyling
#11 Woodpecker on a Brick Break
Woodpeckers’ tongues wrap around their brains to cushion them from the vibrations of slamming their face into trees all day.
Image source: we_made_yewww, Chris F
#12 Is This Otter Real?
Sea otters are the most densely furred animal with 600,000 to 1,000,000 hair follicles per square inch. Dogs have about 15,000 per square inch, humans on average are between 800 to 1,290 hairs per square inch
Image source: atom1129, Marshal Hedin
#13 Silent Watcher Vibes
Owls have really long necks, but it’s hard to notice that because their feathers are so fluffy
Image source: ergonaut, Fábio Scaletta
#14 Delicate Design Masterclass
Dragon flys have the highest kill rate out of any flying predator.
Image source: Excellent_Priority_5, Jude Infantini
#15 Master of Moody Stares
Cats can get pregnant while being pregnant.
Image source: Odd_Zombie_1, Leonardo de Oliveira
#16 Master of Chill Mode
Platypus glow blueish green under ultraviolet light. They also don’t have nipples, they just exude milk from glands under the skin and the baby’s lap it up.
Image source: WakingOwl1, Klaus
#17 Curled Up and Curious
Armadillos always have offspring in quadruplets
Image source: Uncle_Bill, Dan RO
#18 Underwater Oddball
Male anglerfish are super teeny tiny compared to a female. When a male finally bumps into a female down in the deep deep dark, he attaches himself to her and slowly, over time, he becomes A PART OF HER
Image source: SuzannaEmberwolf, NOAA/NMFS/SEFSC Pascagoula Laboratory
#19 Curiosity Wins Again
Does will eat their offsprings feces in order to keep predators from even recognizing there are babies around.
Image source: tunaonigiri, Siska Vrijburg
#20 Lines That Tell Stories
Humans have stripes. They are rarely visible but we all have them due to how our bodies developed in the womb. They’re called Blaschko Lines
Image source: MaxximumB, Angela Roma
#21 Aquatic Grin Game
Killer Whales are actually dolphins.
Image source: IslandVibezJaylen, Pixabay
#22 Snap Judgment
Mantis Shrimp have 16 different sets of rods.
(Rods and cones are in your eyes. Cones see light, rods see color. Humans have 3 sets of rods, red blue yellow.)
Mantis Shrimp are seeing colors we can not.
That’s not even the strangest thing about them. They can also punch as fast as a .22 bullet which cause a cavitation bubble which can heat up to 8000 degrees or something.
Edit because it was late night: Cones see color! Rods see detail and light. And apparently it’s red blue green. Color is super strange anyway. It doesn’t really exist unless it’s perceived.
Image source: RigzDigz, Roy L. Caldwell
#23 Ocean’s Gentle Giant
Blue whales are estimated to produce around 20 liters of semen each time they ejaculate
Image source: tunaonigiri, Thomas Kelley
#24 Pocket-Sized Passenger
Kangaroos can’t hop backwards. So if you’re ever attacked by one, just step behind him. Thanks Snapple!
Image source: Alarming-Ad9441, Ondrej Machart
#25 The Ultimate Hide-and-Seek Champion
Wombats poops in a square form.
Image source: RSA_Hybrid, JJ Harrison
#26 Nest Level Wisdom
Yes the egg came before the chicken. As the division of sex came long before vertebrate life. However it’s looking like sperm came slightly before the egg cell.
Bacteria and early multi cell lifeforms are WEIRD
Image source: altkaldra, Alison Burrell
#27 Busy Without Breaks
When finding nectar bees swarms in random direction and when bee find the source of nectar the go back to their hive Bees communicate with other bees where the nectar is located by their special dance which indicates
1. Direction of nectar with respect to sun
2. Exact Distance of nectar from the hive
3. Time before sunset (this point is controversial as there is only one research paper available)
Image source: Usual-Blueberry-8864, Pixabay
#28 Buzzing With Attitude
Some insects don’t have a brain, instead using their whole nervous system to think. As a result, I recently saw a video of a decapitated wasp trying to eat its own head.
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