Random Animal Facts you think most people here wont know
- Thread starter Marvinb
- Start date
Okay ill start.
Did you know that "antelopes" arent a natural grouping of animals, sort of like birds of prey/raptors? Its more a collective term for everything, well antelope looking
Sable and Roan antelope for example are way closer to sheep and goat than anything else. Same for eland and kudu, those are way closer to cattle than what you traditionally think as of antelopes.
Did you know that "antelopes" arent a natural grouping of animals, sort of like birds of prey/raptors? Its more a collective term for everything, well antelope looking
Sable and Roan antelope for example are way closer to sheep and goat than anything else. Same for eland and kudu, those are way closer to cattle than what you traditionally think as of antelopes.
Muntjac have weird looking face glands... would be really cool to see in PZ...
EDIT: Video update, now that I can post one!
EDIT: Video update, now that I can post one!
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Komodo dragons have iron filaments on their teeth to make them XTRA dragony
Pigeons give milk to their babies, unlike most birds. Crazy
Every Orca pod speaks a different language. The further the pods live from each other, the greater the difference in their language structure. One of the many reasons they’re my favorite species on this planet.
whales can communicate across oceans!
This is an excellent thread 
The two living sloth species are almost entirely unrelated and come from opposite ends of the sloth familiy tree.
So they both hail from different lineages if giant grounds sloths and evolved their leaf only diet, weird body plan and upside down hanging lifestyle Independently from one another.
Convergent Evolution is one of the most fascinating things in the natural world
So they both hail from different lineages if giant grounds sloths and evolved their leaf only diet, weird body plan and upside down hanging lifestyle Independently from one another.
Convergent Evolution is one of the most fascinating things in the natural world
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For a full respiratory cycle birds have to breath twice!
Yeah, and I was a little shocked to know that takins are goats.Okay ill start.
Did you know that "antelopes" arent a natural grouping of animals, sort of like birds of prey/raptors? Its more a collective term for everything, well antelope looking
Sable and Roan antelope for example are way closer to sheep and goat than anything else. Same for eland and kudu, those are way closer to cattle than what you traditionally think as of antelopes.
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Here are some:
- There is a strong possibility that elephants are right-tusked or left-tusked in the same way a human is right-handed or left-handed, but there is no concrete evidence. Perhaps some just tusks just happen to be used more.
- A panther is any cat that falls into the genus Panthera, which includes lions, tigers, jaguars, leopards, and snow leopards. Those cats are technically the “big cats” because it has nothing to do with size. The other family, Felinae, is all the other “small cats," including the cheetah, cougar, domestic cats, and so on. Due to the bone structure of each genus’ neck, big cats can roar but can’t purr, and small cats can purr but can’t roar. The one exception is the clouded leopard, Neofelis nebulosa, which is said to be the missing link between both of the main genuses.
- By this logic, a “black panther” is not its own species. Rather, it’s any member of the Panthera genus with melanism.
- Vultures have strong stomachs and immune systems that make them immune to most diseases, which is why they are capable of eating rotting flesh.
Good monkes
I actually did not know this. That’s so fascinating.
Gets even more fascinating when you realise there are about 90 genera of sloths (yep genera not just species) known to science and noone of them are really all that similar to the 2 surviving ones. So how our modern sloths got from their Anteater crossed with a bear looking ancestors to their super specialized bodyplan and lifestyle is still a mystery.
And that this happend on two different occasions without leaving any "missing link" in the fossil records is just so bizarre.
There is a very good video about this topic on Youtube. Just look for PBS Eons Sloths and it should pop up. Also talks about the marine sloths which is something i feel way to few people know existed.
There are quite a few dasyurid* species whose males die after their first breeding season, living to less than a year old. This reproductive strategy where animals put all their energy into a single frantic breeding season before dying is called “semelparity” and is extremely rare in mammals, otherwise known only in certain species of opossum, but in dasyurids it seems to have evolved on a number of different occasions. The many species of antechinus are the most well known example, but phascogales, kalutas, some populations of dibbler and even the northern quoll, the smallest of the quolls, are also all semelparous. Why this male die-off repeated evolved in dasyurids is still uncertain, with ideas ranging from freeing up competition for resources to sperm competition amongst males.
Top row - yellow-footed antechinus, brush-tailed phascogale, dibbler
Bottom row - mainland dusky antechinus, kaluta, northern quoll
While having a single hectic breeding season, where males are so focused on mating with as many females as possible that they don't even eat, seems to be a strategy that serves them well under normal circumstances, unfortunately it may also make them more vulnerable to changes in their ecosystems. Because all the males die, if a single breeding season is missed or hindered for one reason or another, their populations can crash dramatically. This has been seen in northern Australia where the once common northern quoll and brush-tailed phascogale have been among the worst affected animals by the spread of the poisonous cane toad, and there are worries that the rising temperatures brought by anthropogenic climate change may also reduce the likelihood of the males of some antechinus species surviving to their first and only breeding season.
Among other groups, more well-known example of semelparous animals include mayflies and Pacific salmon.
*for those that are unaware, Dasyuridae is the family of carnivorous marsupials that contains the Tasmanian devil - they already have one of the shortest lifespans of any habitat animal in PZ, but they reach practically ancient ages compared to many of their relatives!
Top row - yellow-footed antechinus, brush-tailed phascogale, dibbler
Bottom row - mainland dusky antechinus, kaluta, northern quoll
While having a single hectic breeding season, where males are so focused on mating with as many females as possible that they don't even eat, seems to be a strategy that serves them well under normal circumstances, unfortunately it may also make them more vulnerable to changes in their ecosystems. Because all the males die, if a single breeding season is missed or hindered for one reason or another, their populations can crash dramatically. This has been seen in northern Australia where the once common northern quoll and brush-tailed phascogale have been among the worst affected animals by the spread of the poisonous cane toad, and there are worries that the rising temperatures brought by anthropogenic climate change may also reduce the likelihood of the males of some antechinus species surviving to their first and only breeding season.
Among other groups, more well-known example of semelparous animals include mayflies and Pacific salmon.
*for those that are unaware, Dasyuridae is the family of carnivorous marsupials that contains the Tasmanian devil - they already have one of the shortest lifespans of any habitat animal in PZ, but they reach practically ancient ages compared to many of their relatives!
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