Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Share The Most Obscure Animal Facts They Know

Who doesn't love animals?

Be they cute and cuddly, or ferocious and dangerous, it's hard to imagine anyone who isn't fascinated by at least one animal on this planet.

Particularly as there's almost always something surprising and unusual to learn about animals, no matter the species.

Redditor colonoscopescount was curious to learn unusual, largely unknown facts about animals discovered by other members of the Reddit community, leading them to ask:

"What is your number one obscure animal fact?"


"The Ants go rolling in a ball, hurrah, hurrah..."

"Army Ants will create 'balls' during high water floods."

"The ball will roll allowing every ant to get a breath."- H010CR0N

Be weary of fake bananas.

"The chemical compound which is used to make fake banana flavor is the same compound honey bees use as an alarm pheromone."

"So never eat banana sweets near a beehive, and if you suddenly smell banana near a beehive, run!"- generic-volume

Unconventional nursing.

"The duck billed platypus has no nipples to feed their offspring."

"Instead, milk oozes from the skin."- ChimpyChompies

platypus GIFGiphy

Every inch is soft and cuddly.

"Rabbits don't have pads on their paws."

"Only fur."

"So if you see a cartoon rabbit with pads on it's paw, completely wrong."- FOTBWN

Providing all kinds of relief.

"Vultures urinate on their legs and feet to cool off on hot days, a process called urohydrosis."

"Their urine also helps kill any bacteria or parasites they’ve picked up from walking through carcasses or perching on dead animals."- Iron_Chic

Small but mighty.

"There is a genus of frog called 'Mini'."

"There are only three frogs in the genus, and their scientific names are all puns: Mini mum, Mini ature and Mini scule."- SwimmingOnMars

Pbs Nature Frog GIF by Nature on PBSGiphy

A built in Brita!

"Penguins have a gland above their eye that converts saltwater into freshwater."- Yeeteth_thy_baby

Blind but terrifying

"The vast majority of Greenland sharks are blind thanks to a special parasite that eats their eyes and replaces them."

"It is thought that this might actually be helpful because their eyesight was sh*t anyway, the parasites wave like lures and may have an anglerfish-like effect, and the sharks are super slow so that might be one of the few ways for them to catch live prey."

"Imagine something eating your eyeballs and it being an upgrade."- Fabled_Webs

Don't be fooled by their Beauty

"Butterflies will drink blood given the option."- Semicolon7645

A jumping baby factory.

"A kangaroo will mate again one to three days after giving birth."

"The newborn will latch onto a teat in the pouch and as long as it thrives, the kangaroo can put its newly fertilized embryo in a state of dormancy and have a back up baby ready to go."

"If the newborn grows out of the pouch or dies, the kangaroos hormones will send signals to start the development of the egg."

"So they can have an adolescent Joey, a nursing one, and one in stasis all at the same time."

Yo Mama Australia GIF by Nat Geo WildGiphy

So many animals on this planet.

So much to learn every day.

Want to "know" more?

Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.


More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Bill Murray
@anthony_anderson5/TikTok

Bill Murray Snaps At Pushy Fan For Trying To Take Unwanted Photo At Movie Theater In Viral Video

Bill Murray wasn’t in the mood for surprises at a recent movie screening—especially not from an overzealous fan who got a little too close for comfort.

The Ghostbusters star, 73, was at AMC Lincoln Square 13 in New York City for a Q&A session tied to his new film The Friend when things got tense.

Keep ReadingShow less
JK Rowling Slammed After She Adds Asexual People To Her Growing List Of LGBTQ+ Targets
Mike Marsland/WireImage

JK Rowling Slammed After She Adds Asexual People To Her Growing List Of LGBTQ+ Targets

Harry Potter author JK Rowling must be growing bored with transphobia because now she's using her worldwide platform to whine about asexuals.

Sunday, April 6 was International Asexuality Day, and of course Rowling couldn't possibly just let the day go by.

Keep ReadingShow less
Perry Greene from TikTok video; Greene apologizing
Fox 5 Atlanta

MTG's Ex-Husband Apologizes After He's Caught On Video Verbally Accosting Muslim Women

Far right Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene's ex-husband publicly apologized for an incident in which he was caught on camera harassing three Muslim women who were praying in a mall parking lot just north of Georgia.

Video filmed on March 31 showed Perry Greene leaning out of his Tesla Cybertruck and heckling the women, telling them they're "worshiping a false god because y'all are pieces of sh*t" and repeatedly telling them to "go back to your country."

Keep ReadingShow less
Ted Cruz; Kelvin Sampson
Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images; Alex Slitz/Getty Images

Houston Fans Livid After Ted Cruz 'Curse' Strikes Again At NCAA Basketball Championship

In 2013, 2016 and 2021, Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz was labeled the most hated man in Congress—by members of his own party. In 2023, Florida Republican Representative Matt Gaetz replaced him as the "most hated."

In a 2016 CNN interview, South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said:

Keep ReadingShow less
Harriet Tubman
Library of Congress/Getty Images

National Parks Website Restores Harriet Tubman Photo To 'Underground Railroad' Page After Backlash

Following significant backlash, the National Park Service restored a previously-erased photo of Harriet Tubman from a webpage dedicated to the history of the Underground Railroad, in which she led 13 missions to rescue enslaved people.

A spokesperson said the changes were not authorized by the agency's leadership.

Keep ReadingShow less