10 fun and bizarre animal facts!
Today is World Animal Day again, and it's time to celebrate your pet! Did you know that 8% of households in the Netherlands acquired a pet during the coronavirus pandemic? This just goes to show how much we love animals, but did you also know these fun and bizarre animal facts?
1.A gigantic penguin of 2 meters and 7 centimeters
It's the largest penguin species ever discovered on the Antarctic Seymour Peninsula. This island is known for its abundance of penguin bones. The fossil is 37 million years old and is aptly named the colossal penguin. This name comes from its enormous length, but also from its weight of a whopping 110 kilograms!
2.Men's geckos can renew their tail
When attacked, geckos drop their tails to create a distraction. This gives the lizard a chance to escape a predator. The tail slowly grows back, but it's smaller, blunter, and a different color than the previous one.
3. Sharks have electrical sensors
Besides their strong sense of smell, sharks also have electrical sensors. They use these sensors when attacking their prey. This allows them to detect the electrical field of the prey's heart. When prey is very close, they use these sensors as a guide for their attack.
4.Some bats drink real blood!
Bats need two tablespoons of blood per day. They don't get this the way you might expect. Instead of the myths about bats sucking blood, they use their sharp teeth to pierce two small holes in the skin of sleeping animals. When the blood flows out, they consume it.
5. Humpback whales can sing for hours
During the breeding season, male humpback whales begin singing. Their songs consist of long, complex sequences of signals, lasting up to 10 to 20 minutes. They can repeat these songs for hours. They sing to share their signals with fellow male humpback whales, despite living 4800 miles (XNUMX kilometers) away.
6. Dung beetles are the strongest animals on earth
For the dung beetle's body weight, they're the strongest animal on earth. They can lift 1.141 times their own body weight. If we humans could do that, we could easily lift a truck.
7.The lyrebird can imitate any sound
The Australian songbird, or lyrebird, is capable of imitating any sound it hears. This ranges from imitating other birds to car alarms.
8.The Three-banded clownfish can change gender at any time
To ensure reproduction, the Three-band clownfish can change sex. When the female dies during breeding, the male becomes the mother. Another female then grows rapidly so it can transition into a male.
9. Hippos can't swim
You don't know them any other way. You recognize a pair of eyes peering out over the water. They spend many hours in it every day, but did you know hippos can't swim? They actually stand in shallow areas where there are benches they can stand on. The reason they spend hours there is to regulate their body temperature.
10.The black piranha has the highest bite force among all fish
The original name for the piranha is pira nya, or the biting fish. It earned that name for a reason. Research has shown that the black piranha has the highest bite force of all fish. They measured a force of 320 Newtons, which is also a record. To give you a better idea of how powerful this is: its bite force is proportionally three times stronger than that of a crocodile.
