Bizarre Animal Facts That’ll Have You Scratching Your Head

The complex workings and ways of Mother Nature are still beyond the reach of human knowledge in many folds. Scientists believe that of the estimated 8.7 million animal species on Earth, only about 1.7 million are known to humankind, if you think that’s bonkers wait till you hear this– it is estimated that around 86% of all land species and 91% of all sea species have not even been discovered yet. Over time Evolution played its magic and the sword of ‘survival of the fittest’ had everyone constantly adapting to their surroundings and coming up with absolute WILD adaptations, abilities, and defence mechanisms. Today I bring to you some cool facts about animals that I bet will make you go “WOW”!

The Jesus Christ Lizard

Out of the 1200+ species of animals that can walk on water, the Jesus Christ Lizard or Basilisk Lizard is probably the coolest. Owing its name to the fable where Jesus walked over the Sea of Galilee, it seems to outdo him and runs or cycles across the water. (Don’t zap me, Jesus, if you have a problem take it up with your daddy, he’s the one that created these cool Lizards). The Basilisk lizard’s rear feet have long toes with skin fringes that spread out on the water to increase the surface area of each of its feet. It slaps its feet hard against the water in a cycling motion, pushing water down and creating pockets of air. As a result, the difference in pressure between the air above the lizard’s foot and the compressed water below it keeps the lizard afloat, and the fervent peddling has it running on water.

Dolphins- The Snoop Dogg Of The Ocean

It seems getting high for fun isn’t only a leisure activity enjoyed by humans. Well, let me introduce you to the Snoop Doggs of the ocean. Yup, looks like the ever-so-cute dolphins aren’t as innocent or naive as they came off as. Certain dolphin species like the bottlenose dolphins are known to handle the pufferfish with extreme care causing them to release small amounts of the extremely potent toxin – Tetrodoxin as a defence mechanism. Although fatal in large doses, this toxin acts as a narcotic or analgesic(painkillers) in small quantities. And it seems the ‘dogs of the sea’ have figured out just how much of the toxin is needed to get high and happy. Surprisingly, some pufferfish meat, called Fugu is considered a delicacy in Japan. It is prepared only by highly trained chefs who carefully remove the toxic glands before serving. Well, suffice it to say dear readers, you would NEVER find me in one of those restaurants, for the fetish of putting your life in a chef’s hand is beyond me.

Wanna See My Penis- Fooled You!!

Females of certain matriarchal species such as the elephants and spotted hyenas have pseudo-phalluses. Their placentas are soaked in testosterone when they are in their mother’s womb, this prompts the enlargening of their clitoris which ends up mirroring a penis. The spotted hyena uses this pseudo-phallus for urinating and sexual intercourse. This appendage gives the females an upper hand in deciding who they will mate, making the fake penis an ‘unwanted advance’ repellent. Females of matriarchal animals are usually aggressive, especially towards other females as they view them as a potential threat and competetion, surprisingly this pseudo-phallus fools them as well, reducing aggressive encounters between females. Who thought a penis could solve so many problems?

I Wanna Live Forever, (even if I’m living in vain)

The debate regarding whether Immortality is a boon or a bane, funnily also seems to be happening since time immemorial. But, what can’t be negated is that it is undoubtedly an envied desire for many judging from the billions of dollars being spent on anti-ageing cosmetics and research. Well, there is one animal in our animal kingdom that akin to amoeba possesses the trait of immortality, which comes off as nothing short of magic to our fellow humans. Turritopsis dohrnii is a species of small, biologically immortal jellyfish. It begins its journey as a free-swimming larva that embeds itself into the sea floor and gives rise to a colony of polyps. From there they mature into free-swimming jellyfish. If these jellyfishes, at any stage of their life face unfavourable environmental conditions, encounter aggressive attacks from predators, catch a sickness, or end up in old age, they can simply revert to their polyp stage and form a polyp colony all over again, through a process called transdifferentiation. It’s like hitting the restart button on your life when things don’t go your way. Boy! do I need this in life!!

Around The World In 46 Days

Jules Verne’s classic novel “Around the World in Eighty Days” was an adventurous euphoria inducing novel published in the mid 1870s. In those days the thought of traversing around the world in merely 80 days came off as a laughable bet, one that would only have the protagonist fighting a lost battle from the very start. Well, when this was a feat only possible in human imagination, the Grey-headed Albatrosses were slaying it like no other. These badass birds can not only fly around the globe, but they can achieve this feat in just 46 days. Albatrosses are large seabirds, known to stay in the air for most of their life. They have huge wings that can span up to 11 feet (3.4m) wide, this helps them cover large distances of around 965 km in a day. Scientists say Albatrosses can cover over 16,000 km in one journey. Simply Majestic, if you ask me!

Related to a Dinosaur

You know how there is always a sibling or a cousin in the family who’s an overachiever and consequentially the apple of everyone’s eye? How does talking about them make you feel- small, insignificant, like a chicken? Well, how do you reckon the chicken felt when it found out that it was the closest living relative to the brutally ferocious Tyrannosaurus Rex that ruled the Earth millions of years ago? In 2003, a fossil of the T-Rex was discovered with some soft tissue intact, giving scientists a chance to extract DNA for research. This 68-million-year fossil was then compared to the DNA of 21 modern animal species wherein they found that the proteins found in the DNA of the T-Rex were most similar to that of the chicken. They then had the chicken’s genome sequenced and compared to that of the T-Rex’s, which ended up further confirming that both were related. Well, I can bet you on my non-existing bank account that the chickens are crying tears of happiness since there won’t be any family get-togethers happening in their lifetime.

Name em’ To Shame em‘

Humans and their compulsive need to name things is a strange but common habit. From people to pets, heck – some even name their cars and favourite gadgets. Similarly, Scientists also go around naming things they discover or invent. Most of the times these names are unreadable but sometimes(emphasis on the SOME) they turn out to be funny. Here, I present to you a couple of weird yet funny names Zoologists have come up with to describe a group of certain animals :-

• Group of Crows – Murder
• Group of Owl – Parliament
• Group of Tigers – Ambush
• Group of Sharks – Shiver
• Group of Starfish – Galaxy
• Group of Ravens – Unkindness, Conspiracy
• Group of Pandas- Embarrassment
• Group of Flamingos – Flamboyance