Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Share The Most Obscure Animal Facts They Know

People Share The Most Obscure Animal Facts They Know
Humberto Ramirez/Getty Images
Make us preferred on Google

Hey, you know what there's a lot of cool facts about? Animals. Like, there's so many of them and they have so many fascinating and interesting traits. Like, um...

Why don't we leave it to the people below to lighten our day with some outrageous facts?


Reddit user, u/brandork__135, wanted to know the cookiest and craziest animal deets when they asked:

What is the most obscure animal fact you know?

They Hold Them To A High Bird Standard

My favourite one is about the ravens at the Tower of London.

They can be (and have been) dishonorably discharged for poor behaviour. Such as Raven George, who was posted to the Welsh Mountain Zoo in 1983 due to "conduct unsatisfactory, service no longer required", after he fell in with a bad crowd and started attacking TV aerials.

There's quite a few more that have been discharged for "conduct unbecoming Tower residents", but Raven George is my absolute favourite <3

That Way They Can Rock Forever

Giphy

Lobsters are one of the few species on earth that do not naturally undergo the process known as senescence.

This means their body/cells do not deteriorate with age. Besides being captured or eaten, the only thing that can kill a lobster is the stress produced by shedding its exoskeleton.

psychoflow

Inner Protection On The Outside

The reason why marsupials have pouches.

It is because their bodies don't have a standard placenta like most mammals, offering no protection for embryos against the mothers immune system. So instead they are born super early, and the newborn marsupial will crawl into the mothers pouch, clamp down on a nipple in the pouch, and wait in there until they are properly developed.

Dwargen

The War of The Rats

There are two distinct species of rats in Manhattan. Rat colonies are very territorial and will fight off other rats looking to join the colony. The young rats will actually practice boxing with one another and rat colonies will go to war with one another

zoolyne

Also, there's a group called R.A.T.S. of folks in NYC with rat terriers who go out hunting rats and post hunt reports online.

eugenesbluegenes

Doesn't Matter Egg-Size, They're Still Terrifying

Ostrich eggs are both the largest and the smallest.

  1. They are the largest viable single cell that exists in the world today.
  2. They are the smallest bird egg in proportion to the size of the mother

Now For Some Sadness...

Female ferrets just die after two weeks of being in heat and not finding a mate

hulkhogan304

Agent P, No!

That the fur of a platypus is poisonous

sharkbite138

Kanga And Roo Only Head One Direction In The 100 Acre Wood

Kangaroos cannot hop backwards.

zackmophobes

How Do You Humans Only Operate With One Heart?

When octopuses (and yes that is the correct pluralization) swim, they are at risk of one their three hearts stopping

CyrusDaSquid

Never Eat What You Can't

Horses and rabbits can't vomit.

If they eat something they shouldn't or get food poisoning it could be very bad.

whatshisfaceboy

Slowest Death Imaginable

Sloths have so many bacteria over their claws that if they hurt you with [them] you can die for infection if you do nothing

iamlazyboy

No One Can Hear You Scream

Giraffes does not have vocal chords.

They can't make sounds unlike other animals.

BIZARRE_TOWN

Sinister Cuddles

Pandas sometimes are unaware that they have given birth and in some locations roll over and suffocate the baby.

WetBread_777

Neither A Grower Nor Shower

Gorilla's, despite being the largest primate have the smallest penis.

The average gorilla penis is only 1.5 inches long when fully erect.

net_traveller

That Took A Turn...

Otter mates hold hands while asleep to avoid drifting away

Males also rape baby seals to death

SSJRobbieRotten

...what was that now?

At the end of mating season, some ducks penises will fall off and then regrow next season

Rocksaltz-wid-a-z

Humans Didn't Do Everything First

Giphy

We are not the first to invent farming.

The leaf cutter ants do not cut the leaves for themselves to eat. They bring those cut pieces into their nests where they 'grow' fungus on them, tending to them very carefully, making sure they get just the right amount of moisture, ventilation, etc. Once the fungus is grown they eat the fungus.

Essentially, ants invented farming a good 50 million years before we did.

whatissevenbysix

A Few For The Road

  • The nasal passage of chimpanzees and other apes are connected directly to their lungs, completely separate from the esophagus. Thus, they cannot choke on food like we can. Our throats have developed an epiglottis, which is the flap that opens when we breathe and closes when we swallow. This and other features of the pharynx make possible many more variations of sound compared to other primates.
  • Animals of the same species or genus tend to be bigger when they live in cold climates. For instance, white-tailed deer that live near the equator are smaller than the same deer in northern latitudes. The same has been observed of birds, raccoons, cougars, and elk to name a few. This is because larger bodies have a smaller surface-to-volume ratio than do smaller bodies, which helps keep an animal warm. In other words, there is less heat-loss per square inch of body surface.
  • Owls's eyes are fixed in their skull, which explains their signature behavior of head turning and bobbing in an effort to improve focus and depth perception.

What's an obscure animal fact you know of? Share it with us!

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

A split screen of Jeff Bezos on stage at a panel and Dolly Parton on a red carpet.
Chesnot / Contributor;Getty Imges/ Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Jeff Bezos Called Out For Hypocritical Post Praising Dolly Parton's 'Generosity'—And We're Shaking Our Heads

The world is still in mourning following the death of Dolly Parton this past Tuesday.

In addition to President Trump declaring that flags in the U.S. will fly at half-mast for one week, countless people have taken to social media to pay homage to the beloved singer, actress, and philanthropist.

Keep Reading Show less
Cameron Brink; Enes Kanter Freedom
@BrickCenter_/X; Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

WNBA Star Bluntly Rips Anti-Trans Former NBA Player Over His Bigoted Antics in Viral Video—And She's Totally Right

WNBA star Cameron Brink has blasted former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom, who changed his name after becoming a United States citizen, over his transphobic antics.

Kanter Freedom, a Turkish national who moved to the U.S. to play high school basketball, had an unremarkable NBA career playing for five different teams—twice switching between the Boston Celtics and Portland Trailblazers, for a total of seven NBA team changes in 11 years in the league. He's had no major endorsement deals, claiming he was "blacklisted."

Keep Reading Show less
Screenshot of Dylan Crawford during MS NOW interview
MS NOW

Young MAGA Voter Who Is 'Struggling For My Life' Goes Viral With His NSFW Message For Trump

Dylan Crawford, an Iowa MAGA voter who is struggling with the affordability crisis after graduating from high school, went viral after swearing at President Donald Trump when asked what he would say if he could speak to the president.

The interview comes as the rising cost of living becomes difficult to ignore for the overwhelming majority of Americans. Consumer sentiment fell sharply in August, according to data released earlier this month by the University of Michigan that found that older and lower-income Americans are particularly affected by elevated fuel prices.

Keep Reading Show less
Screenshot of Byron Donalds
@AGGancarski/X

GOP Candidate Slammed After Sharing Absurdly Sexist Reason Why Roads Should Be Repaired

Florida Republican Representative Byron Donalds was called out after making a sexist remark at a campaign rally about why women need roads to be fixed.

Donalds is currently campaigning for Florida's governorship. He is President Donald Trump's preferred candidate in Florida and would be the state's first Black governor if elected to succeed the term-limited Ron DeSantis.

Keep Reading Show less
Pete Davidson attends SNL50: The Homecoming Concert at Radio City Music Hall.
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

Pete Davidson Was Spotted Wearing Blue Contacts And A Wig While Filming A New Movie—And He Looks Low-Key Terrifying

Pete Davidson put in some blue contacts, threw on a wig, and somehow emerged looking like the guy you absolutely do not want making prolonged eye contact with you on the subway.

It all went down when Davidson was photographed on August 25 in costume for his new movie, Tommy Karate, in which he plays notorious, martial arts-trained Bonanno crime family enforcer Thomas "Tommy Karate" Pitera.

Keep Reading Show less