The earth houses more than a million known animal species, each representing an ancient tome of biological trivia. These animals have distinctive species and characteristics that have been known and studied for ages.
Delivering a tribute to such trivia, here’s a list of 23 amazing facts about animals.
1. Birds don’t have bladders to store urine like most mammals and amphibians. They have a single opening that serves as an exit for urine and faeces. This exit is called cloaca. Ostriches are the only birds to release urine and faeces separately.
2. Horses, bison, zebras and elephants sleep while standing up. This applies to some birds too.
3. The bat is the only mammal that can fly. Their wings are similar to a modified human hand.
4. Even when a snake has its eyes closed, it can still see through its eyelids.
5. Despite the white, fluffy appearance of the Polar Bear’s fur, it has black skin.
6. An average housefly can live up to 28 days.
7. Scorpions are immune to their venom.
8. Crocodiles can go a few months without food, in extreme cases they can stay a for year or two.
9. Sharks can live for up to 100 years.
10. A honey bee has two stomachs. The foregut, also known as the honey stomach or crop, and the midgut also known as the true stomach for food.
11. The tongue of a blue whale can weigh as much as the size of an elephant, and a heart the size of a car.
12. A snail can sleep for 3 years.
13. Leeches Have 32 brains. Looking at their body interior, it is divided into 32 segments each has its own brain. These are not separate brains, but the single brain that has been split into 32 segments in the formation of the leech.
14. The human brain has the capacity or space of 2.5 petabytes, which is equivalent to 1024 terabytes and 2.5 million gigabytes of memory.
15. Kangaroos have a unique hind leg anatomy which doesn’t allow them to walk backwards.
16. Octopuses have three hearts, two used to pump blood to the gills and one for the rest of the body.
17. Sloths consume diets that mainly consist of toxic leaves that are difficult to digest, this causes them to poop once a week.
18. Parrot fish sleep in cracks creating a bubble around their head made from their snort.
19. Dolphins sleep with one eye open and only half of their brains at a time, making them sleepwalkers.
20. Cows form social groups and make best friends within themselves.
21. Starfish can regenerate lost arms.
22. All polar bears are left-handed.
23. Kangaroos can’t fart.
24. Pigeons can solve math.
25. Giraffes have no vocal cords.
