10 Animal Facts That Will Change How You Think About Animals!

By Jeffrey Chan Last updated Apr 22, 2022 0

The animal kingdom is certainly varied, with an estimated 7.77 million kinds of creatures on the earth. While the diversity of earth’s biodiversity is well recognized, humans are often unaware of the amazing things our animal counterparts can accomplish. These astonishing animal facts will amaze even the most ardent animal fans, from cuddly critters you never knew kissed to ones who prefer becoming tipsy.

1. Koala Fingerprints Are Sufficiently Similar to Human Fingerprints That They May Contaminate Crime Scenes.

Koalas may not appear to have much in common with humans, yet a closer examination of their palms reveals that they have fingerprints that are identical to humans’.

In fact, when it comes to the unmistakable loops and arches, they’re so similar that, according to Ripley’s Believe It or Not, “police believed that criminal investigations may have been impeded by koala prints” in Australia. Any koalas planning on committing crimes should do so while wearing gloves.

2. Parrots Will Selflessly Assist One Another.

Although parrots are often linked with pirates, African grey parrots are nothing like the notoriously hungry treasure hunters. Instead, according to a 2020 study published in Current Biology, the multicolored birds will “voluntarily assist one other in obtaining food rewards” and undertake “selfless” deeds. “African grey parrots were innately motivated to help others, even if the other individual was not their friend, hence they behaved very ‘prosocially,” according to study co-author Auguste von Bayern.

3. Prairie Dogs Give Each Other a Kiss.

Prairie dogs are unusual creatures for a variety of reasons: they’re enormous rodents who build massive underground homes and kiss. Prairie dogs “‘kiss and snuggle’ more when they are seen by zoo visitors,” according to the BBC since they “seemed to appreciate the attention.”

4. Ghost Crabs Growl With Their Stomach Teeth.

Crabs can terrify other species with their claws, but if that isn’t enough, ghost crabs snarl like a dog at their foes. Crabs, unlike our canine companions, generate these terrifying noises with fangs in their stomachs. “A medial tooth and two lateral teeth are the three primary teeth, which are essentially elongated, hard (calcified) structures.

They’re a component of the stomach’s gastric mill, where they rub against each other to grind up food “Newsweek spoke with Jennifer Taylor of the University of California, San Diego. After discovering that “the crabs [were] ‘growling’ at” them, she and her colleagues were able to pinpoint the source of the noise.

5. The Mantis Shrimp Has the Fastest Punch in the World.

You might assume boxers have the best jabs, hooks, and uppercuts on the planet, but the world’s fastest punch belongs to the mantis shrimp. When a shrimp punches at a speed of roughly 50 mph, its small fist of fury (which, of course, isn’t a fist at all) “accelerates faster than a.22-caliber bullet,” according to Science. The story of one such little smasher was related by National Geographic, which explained that “Tyson, an aggressive creature, crashed through the quarter-inch-thick glass wall of his cell in April 1998.

Nervous attendants quickly restrained him, and he was sent to a more secure facility at Great Yarmouth. Tyson was just four inches tall, unlike his heavyweight namesake [former professional boxer Mike Tyson]. Scientists just discovered that Tyson, like his ancestors, can throw one of the fastest and most powerful punches in the world.”

6. Female Lions Are Responsible for 90% of the Hunting.

While male lions draw a lot of attention because of their massive manes, female lions are the ones who perform the majority of the effort when it comes to feeding their families. According to CBS News, “lionesses, not male lions, conduct the majority of hunting for their pride.” “Around 90% of the time, lionesses hunt, while males protect their pride.”

7. Tusks of Narwhals Are “Inside Out” Teeth.

Narwhals are distinguished from other whales by what seems to be a massive task. But what you’re looking at isn’t a task at all—it’s a tooth. The tooth, according to Harvard University’s Martin Nweeia, “is almost like a piece of skin in the sense that it contains all these sensory nerve endings,” and it’s “basically created inside out.”

8. The World’s Oldest Known Domesticated Dog Breed Was Discovered Around 329 Bc.

Dogs are often referred to as man’s best friend, and it turns out that this is a relationship that dates back further than you might think. The oldest known breed of domesticated dog dates back to 329 BC, according to Guinness World Records. “In ancient Egypt, Saluki dogs were venerated, and they were kept as royal pets and mummified after death,” they write. “Carvings dating back to 7000 BC have been discovered in Sumer (modern-day southern Iraq) that depict a dog that closely resembles a Saluki.”

9. Domesticated Cats Have Been Documented for Over 9,500 Years.

Cats have been living in close proximity to humans for thousands of years. According to Guinness World Records, cats have been domesticated for 9,500 years. This was demonstrated in 2004 when the “In the neolithic town of Shillourokambos on Cyprus, the bones of a cat were uncovered. The cat’s location in the ground was near to human bones, which were in a comparable condition of preservation, implying that they were buried together.”

10. Puffins Scratch Their Body With Twigs.

Puffins have a lot to be proud of, especially their magnificent beaks, but the seabirds are also incredibly clever. Atlantic puffins were spotted “spontaneously utilizing a little wooden stick to scratch their body” in both Wales and Iceland, according to a 2019 study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). A small puffin can be seen picking up a little twig before using it to scratch an itching region on its belly in a video released by Science.