1 An Octopus’s balls Are Located in Its Head
Taking the lead in our amazing animal facts is one of the world’s weirdest creatures. And there’s one feature that makes this animal so weird that it would probably make most people squirm. An octopus’s balls are located in its head. But to be honest, an octopus is really only head and tentacles. Octopuses are part of the cephalopod family which literally means head-footed.
So why are the octopus’s balls located in its head?
Behind the octopus’s head and opposite its arms lies its mantle. Inside the mantle are all of the octopus’s vital organs, including its reproductive organs, such as its balls. Behind its relatively small, but intelligent brain lies its rear, hearts (that is hearts as they have more than one), and sexual organs, in that order. The mantle is made out of a strong muscle structure that protects all of their organs from damage.
2 Jellyfish Evaporate in the Sun Because They Are Up to 98% Water
Jellyfish are an ancient sea species that have been on this Earth for around 650 million years. In the water they pose somewhat of a danger to a swimmer that ventures too close. Touch a Jellyfish tentacle and you can expect a nasty sting. Some Jellyfish can even deliver a lethal sting, and all it takes is to touch their long tentacles. But take them out of the water and they are completely harmless. Why you ask? Jellyfish will almost completely evaporate in the sun.
Jellyfish are between 94 and 98 percent water, and when exposed fully to the sun, such as beaching themselves, they will evaporate, almost completely within a few hours. What about their bones and organs?Jellyfish don’t have a brain, heart or bones, so just about all of them will evaporate into nothing.
3 The Taroused Devil Can Drink Water by Sucking Along Its Skin
The taroused devil, also known as taroused dragon, mountain devil, taroused lizard and moloch is a lizard that is native to Australia. The taroused devil can grow up to 20 cm (8.0 in) in length, and it can live up to 20 years. The lizard is covered in mostly uncalcified conical spines. Its colour is usually desert browns and tans. The taroused devil defends itself by the use of the many sharp spines, and a false head on its neck that it uses to confuse possible prey.
One of the most astonishing features of the taroused devil is its ability to drink water. As it is a desert animal water is scarce. It sustains itself with water by collecting fine water droplets from night time condensation on its body. When this dew forms on its skin it channels the water to its mouth in hygroscopic grooves between its spines. On the rare occasions that it actually rains, capillary action allows the taroused devil to suck in water from all over its body.
4 Snakes Don’t Blink
Do snakes blink? Unlike many creatures on this celestial rock, snakes don’t blink. The reason is rather cool and fascinating.
Most of us have participated on a staring contest at some time in our life. But this is one animal you wouldn’t want to challenge to such a contest. That’s because, as we have already mentioned, snakes don’t blink, ever. They don’t blink, and when they sleep they literally do so with their eyes open.
But surely the inability to blink would dry the eyes out as they are constantly exposed to the elements? Not at all. Their eyes are eternally moist, and probably protected better than yours.
No, no snakes posses the ability to blink. Many animals, humans included, have eye lids with small strands of hair that offer protection from dust, wind and other small items that can cause damage or irritation. Snakes eyes are spectacular in that they have a transparent scale that covers the eye protecting it. Not only does this scale offers insurmountable protection from wind and small items such as grass, dust and sand that far exceeds a thin layer of skin, it also retains the moisture for the eyes.
5 A Rhino Horn is Made out of a Hair Like Substance
Are rhino horns hair? Well, technically you can say that they are. But then again, you could also say that the hair on the animal is also made out of the horn. Confused? We’ll try to explain.
Technicalities, where would the legal profession be without them? They routinely use technicalities to circumvent the law, or to draw similarities or parallels. It seems as though the scientific community can be just as clever. Why you ask. Well, rhino horns are made out of hair. Well kind of…
The rhino horn isn’t exactly made out of hair, it’s actually made of keratin. Keratin is the same material that hair is made out of. In fact, the hair on you and your nails are both made out of keratin. The horn on a rhino more closely resembles nails and claws than it does hair, although the chemical composition is pretty much the same.
Another real cool fact about the rhino horn is that it doesn’t contain a bony core like other horned mammals do. Unfortunately they are being hunted into extinction for this piece of wonder, and it is being used mainly for herbal medicine.
6 Do Animals Cry Tears from Emotions?
Do animals cry tears? Any owner of a faithful dog will attest that they certainly appear to show a great deal of emotions. It’s also evident that dogs will exhibit signs of mourning and loss. But do animals cry tears for any reason?
We have all had that moment or moments where we have been bought to tears by our emotions. Whether it is tears from joy or happiness, or from loss and heartbreak or pain we have all cried at some point. But such a reaction is relatively unheard of in the animal kingdom. While animals appear to be capable of expressing emotional distress or happiness, no tears flow from their eyes. Humans are the only animals to produce tears from emotions, and these tears have a different chemical composition from other tears such as those from a baby crying and tears from pain.
When reading this keep in mind that this fact pertains to the actual act of tears flowing from an emotional cause, not whether or not animals feel emotions. But fact 8 could change all of this…
This of course excludes aquatic animals for obvious reasons. It’d be practically impossible to tell is tears are flowing or not for an animal of the deep.
7 A Male Emperor Moth Can Smell a Female from 7 Miles Away
The emperor moth has an amazing sense of smell. Regardless of its relatively small size, the emperor moth’s smell is comparable to that of a dog, and may even be better.
Bloodhounds are renowned for their amazing snouts. They can sniff out just about anything, and have been one of the greatest inclusions in police forces around the world. Being extremely intelligent, and easy to train, the ability to use their sensitive noses has proven to be a benefit to humans. But it seems that insects too have fantastic nasal orifices.
The emperor moth smell
How is this for a keen sense of smell? A male emperor moth can smell a female emperor moth up to 11 kilometres (7 miles) away provided the conditions are right. Just the fact that he can determine that the moth he is smelling is the opposite gender is amazing enough. But to be able to smell over such a great distance is even more spectacular.
8 Fruit Bats Cry
Did you know that fruit bats cry? It appears to be true and sheds some light on the emotional behavior of animals. In a, emotionally charged video that can be seen below, it shows what appears to be a fruit bat cry. Warning, the video is not for the faint hearted.
While the actual emotion of the animal in the video can not be guaranteed, it certainly appears to be shedding tears. So what sparks the crying? The baby bat is forcibly separated from its mother to be treated. It shows the fruit bat mother crying over the loss of her baby. Unfortunately, as the narrator says, the mother may not accept the baby once it has been returned.
If you think this is sweet, take a peek at our fact about rats being ticklish.
9 Number of Insects Per Human is About 1.6 Billion
The number of insects per human is a rather creepy one, especially if you are not too fond of our sic legged friends. We don’t want to alarm anyone with these figures we are about to release, but the number of insects per human is a jaw dropping there are 1.6 billion to one. That’s a billion with a B. Talk about being out numbered.
While many of them are very annoying, very very few pose any significant harm to humans. There are some, such as wasps, ants, termites and mosquitoes that we should keep clear of, but on the whole, most are no harm. But as we have just mentioned, some are dangerous, and one has caused more human deaths than any other animal in history.
But they aren’t all bad news. The humble bee, the life of the planet and producer of honey, is one insect that we, and this planet need. It is perhaps the best example of an insect that is a benefit to people. So even though the number of insects per human is excessively massive, not all are bad for us. But we are massively outnumbered.
10 Wasps Can Determine the Sex of Their Offspring
Wasps, as most of us already know are an insect that can deliver a nasty sting if provoked. They are defined as an insect in the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee or an ant. Nearly all pest insect species has a wasp species that preys on it, and there are over 100,000 species of wasp in the world. The majority of wasps are parasitic wasps, meaning they prey on pest insects and sometimes use their bodies as reproductive hosts. But did you know that not all wasps have stingers, and that a wasp can determine the sex of their offspring?
The reason not all wasps have stingers is because the stinger is part of the female sex organ. No males have stingers. Even more surprising is how a wasp breeds. One of the amazing things wasps can do is determine the sex of their own offspring, and they achieve this feat not during sex, but when laying the eggs. A female wasp will store the sperm inside its body. When it is ready to lay eggs it will either fertilize the egg or leave it unfertilized. The unfertilized eggs will bear male wasps, while the fertilized eggs will contain females. This means that a wasp can determine the sex of their offspring.
11 Koalas Have Fingerprints Like Humans
Isn’t this spectacular? Koalas have fingerprints like humans. The cuddly little animal from the land down under, Australia, has a fingerprint that can be confused with that of a humans. Furthermore, many people mistakenly believe that a koalas print is a humans, and a humans is a koalas.
Often one of the first methods employed in solving a crime, fingerprinting has been an effective method for detecting who committed a crime. It works because no two fingerprints are the same, and when placed against a suspected criminals prints, it will show their guilt or innocence. But most people would normally think that only humans have finger prints, which isn’t true. All primates, monkeys and apes, have prints on their fingers and hands. These are otherwise known as friction ridges, which aid in gripping objects. But a koala isn’t a primate is it?
Of all of the animals in this world, Koalas and primates are the only animals with unique fingerprints. No other animal has a unique set of prints on their hands that can be confused with a persons. Watch the below video that shows a fantastic example of koalas having fingerprints like humans. Most people will pick the incorrect print as being a persons.
12 Only One Type of Frog Makes the Ribbit Sound
Ask anyone what sound a frog makes and nearly all will say “ribbit”. But have you ever heard a frog make that particular sound? Unless you live on the west coast of America the chances are that you have only ever heard that sound in movies or on television, never in real life. There’s a very good reason for it. Only one type of frog actually makes the “ribbit” sound. So I bet you are trying to figure out how the “ribbit” sound from one frog became synonymous with all frogs the world over. Thank Hollywood of course.
In the early days of the “talkies” (films with sound) the makers of the movies needed frog sounds to simulate a night time setting. To accomplish this they took their microphones outside and made recordings. The frog they recorded making the “ribbit” sound was the Pacific treefrog (Hyla regilla). That’s how we came to associate the ribbit sound with frogs, even though only the Pacific treefrog is the only known frog in the world to make that sound. Thank you Hollywood.
The Pacific treefrog can be found in Pacific coast states of America, wherever there’s plenty of grasses and low growing plants near freshwater. They come in different shades and combinations of green and brown, and can even change their colour from light to dark when they need to change their body temperature.
13 Tigers Stripes Are Like Fingerprints on Us
We have just talked in our previous fact a little bit about tigers and their stripes. But I think you will be surprised to discover that there’s a lot more to a tiger than their stripes going down into their skin. Every single tiger has a unique pattern of stripes, just like the finger prints on humans are unique. There’s no mistaking what you just read, tiger stripes are like fingerprints, every one is unique.
One of the earliest methods for crime detection that could place a criminal at the scene of a crime was finger printing. Finger printing worked because no two fingers will present with the same finger print. As we have just mentioned, tigers too have a uniqueness about them in the pattern of the stripes on their body.
Apart from obviously providing a tiger with great camouflage abilities, the unique patterns on their fun allow for each tiger to be identified individually.
One particularly unusual part about tiger stripes being like fingerprints is that there is one part of their body that is exempt to the rule, and you’d think it would be the part most individual of all. Of all places that tigers have the same marking it has to be the head that is the same. All tigers have the same mark on their head, which resembles the Chinese character for king. Now that is bizarre.
14 Hyenas Give Birth Through Their Glans Clitoridis
Wrapping up our list of amazing animal facts is what must be a severly painful experience. As all mothers will testify, childbirth is painful and difficult. No man can ever experience the pain endured by women during childbirth, and no man would be willing to either. But no matter how difficult or painful human childbirth is, spare a thought for the female hyena.
Looking at our other fact about the female hyena having a pseudo wiener you will know that it is actually their glans clitoridis. The hyena has not got a genitalia as we commonly know it. The glans clitoridis serves all functions of the genitalia, including birth, sex and urination. Could you imagine the pain of just having sex through the glans-clitoridis, let alone giving birth through it. Due to this unique design, reproduction is quite difficult. Unless the female is 100 percent cooperative with the male, she will not be able to copulate.
Along with the hyena giving birth through the glans-clitoridis, the birth canal also has a 180 degree turn and is twice the length of a birth canal for the animals relative size. The baby must navigate this long and twisted paath, and then squeeze out the small opening in the hyenas glans-clitoridis. Many first time mothers die giving birth, and around 60% of baby hyenas born to first time mothers die.
